<I received the IEEE comment via ANSI, but haven't had time to read it.Too busy trying to beat back the bloated egos of certain IT industry lobbyists who can't resist the siren song of the White House, and hence, they keep getting sucked into the Admin/trail lawyer strategy of trying to divide and conquer by splitting off the IT community from the rest of the Year 2000 Coalition.>
Unfortunately you're probably not the only one who didn't read it. I imagine IEEE doesn't have the big bucks for lobbying effort as others. What a shame. Money talks, eh?
It was probably the most meaningful, insightful, unbiased, comprehensive, serious and well-thought out info I've read in a long-time. Hope you get the time to look it over.
Drives me crazy that IT people still only focus on their end ... and not the whole picture.
Personally I'm p*ssed at the government and so many companies for doing too little too late. IMHO - there's absolutely NO reason we should be in this situation like we are right now - that a bill like this is even necessary.
And I'm p*ssed at IT companies like Microsoft, who haven't been forthright and come up with creative descriptions of what "compliant" means.
And I'm p*ssed at retailers who sell new stuff that won't work right in 188 days - without warning their customers. At least this retail stuff is changing. I saw where Office Depot, after recent lawsuit, now has to place ads and have POS displays warning people about this stuff. (I believe 6 other major retailers will be following suit within next few weeks.) They would have continued to sell stuff ... that they had no idea if it would work right - to an unsuspecting public - until a lawsuit settlement. This is bullsh*t.
Personally I think that everything should have a "Y2K Compliant" or "Y2K Not Compliant" label on it ... so people know what they're getting into. And no more of these creative descriptions of what compliant is or isn't. Either it's gonna work right or it isn't. But IT lobby has big bucks. This would never happen. Self interest. Sure would hurt stock price, wouldn't it?
I'm tired of hearing that things are called "compliant" ... just because a fix is anticipated in the near future. This is bullsh*t.
And I'm p*ssed at the company who made my multi-function printer/laser/copy machine ... which I bought in September '98 ... which will not be Y2K compliant. And after spending a couple hours of my time ... still can't figure out if they'll be making it compliant ... and if so ... what to do. These d*mn downloads don't work for normal, non-geek people. You gotta hire someone to figure out and do the stuff.
IMHO - It's been corporate greed, ignorance and ego that's been the cause of where we are at this point in the game. Many in the trenches have been harping on this for ages. They [and I] have laughed at the ridiculously low initial budgets and late start for a fix.
While I've been frustrated that not enough is being done fast enough ... I'm happy this bill has dragged on and on. That first draft was BS and too pro big business for my taste.
Ken, out of curiosity, why is it that we hear that the financial industry has been working on this for years and years ... but I have NEVER heard that IT industry has been working on this for years and years? Was it because so many in IT industry just assumed that everyone would be willing to cough up the bucks for upgrade?? Just curious. PR sure has been lacking on IT end when it comes to Y2K. Maybe this new IT consorteum will be hiring a PR agency to allay Y2K fears ... just like the government and banking industry.
I apologize for your getting brunt of my frustration. But it is frustrating. As much as I dislike lawyers generally, and dislike frivilous lawsuits with a passion ... it's difficult to ascertain what truely is "fair" in this situation.
Cheryl
BTW - I think that every company that has sold, and is selling Y2K non-compliant software and/or hardware ... and who has not notified registered users of non-compliant status ... or who does not have a POS display or disclaimer in their sales material showing that they're not Y2K compliant and/or has not publicized this is the media ... should be sued. There's only 188 days left. I don't care about their "good faith" efforts to find a fix. That's bullsh*t. That's caring only about a company and its stock price - not caring about the customer. |
