ABCNEWS: 'In my coffee maker, for example, I have a digital clock... '
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'In my previous column, I painted a pretty grim picture of the Y2k problem. Some people in the computer industry think the worst will happen on Jan. 1, 2000, while many others believe that if any computer glitches occur at all, they will be minor. This illustrates the big problem with the millennium bug-no one knows what will happen.
Why is it that no one knows how the millennium bug will affect our computers and electronic devices?
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For the rest of us who bought electronic devices for our home the scope of the problem is not so apparent. Manufacturers have been placing embedded controllers that perform various timing functions in these products for years. These controllers got so cheap and worked so well that they have been installed in nearly everything.
Millennial Coffee Crisis
In my coffee maker, for example, I have a digital clock and timer that allows me to prepare a pot of coffee in the evening and set it to brew a warm and delicious cup of bean juice when I wake up. If this coffee maker uses a timing controller that has a Y2k problem, it may become confused on Jan. 1, 2000. It may think I want to brew a pot of coffee 99 years from now, or become so bewildered at the time warp it has discovered that I won't get any coffee at all. Or, it may work just fine.
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Take a Lesson From the Boy Scouts
Look around your house for any electronic devices that keep track of time. Check closely; it doesn't have to display the year for it to be vulnerable to the Y2k bug.
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Poking around my house, I found VCRs, TVs, a clock radio, a thermostat, coffee makers, a light timer, an older microwave oven, computers (I have four), and car stereos, just to name a few.
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