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Technology Stocks : Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem
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To: John Mansfield who wrote (519)7/19/1998 7:44:00 AM
From: John Mansfield  Read Replies (1) of 618
 
' This could trigger shutdowns of systems that run
credit card transactions and power grids. Or it could cause computers to
spew streams of faulty data on mortgage payments and hospital records.
Then there are "embedded chips": possibly flawed computer chips in
control panels that operate everything from fax machines to supertankers.

"These chips are everywhere," Koskinen says. In 1997 alone, world
production of such chips totaled 4.2 billion, reports the Semiconductor
Industry Association. Even if only one percent of the chips have date flaws,
there could be many potential failures. "I suspect all the elevators are going
to run . . . [because] that issue was seriously dealt with over a year ago,"
says Koskinen. But some tests have produced bizarre results. In
Sacramento, Calif., he reports, all the doors of the county jail sprang open
when the security system was tested for the year 2000.
...

What worries Koskinen most are computers outside government -- and his
immediate control. He cites two areas. First, other countries: They're
reacting more slowly than the United States. Second, small businesses:
Many don't think they have a problem. For example, the National
Association of Manufacturers recently surveyed 10,000 small and
medium-sized industrial firms with fewer than 500 workers. About 40 to
50 percent hadn't yet fixed their accounting or production systems.
...

washingtonpost.com
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