'I work as a computer technician/networking consultant.
_____
'From:
fedinfo@halifax.com
18:26
Subject:
A letter sent to Gary North
I've just discovered you and your site. I've also had a tape of your radio
interviews mailed to me from a friend. I thought you might want to hear my Y2K
experiences.
I work as a computer technician/networking consultant. The company I work for
provides on site network administration for various small (10 - 500 employees)
companies. We set up, sell, and service networks. I am responsible for
traveling to various companies every day to set up new equipment and fix any
problems the client might be having.
Many of these networks still use a lot of older 486 and early Pentium
machines. A lot of the programs are old DOS database programs that contain
millions of entries. Now, these companies are not vital to our nation, but
they are still important companies. None are Y2K compliant.
I have mentioned this to my supervisor. I even wrote up a report suggesting
we go through each network and give the clients a report suggesting repairs
and upgrades. My idea was basically shot down. I heard that it was basically
off limits to bring up Y2K issues unless the client requested a report on
their own. When I asked why this was our policy, I was told that we had tried
my approach in the past and the clients just don't want to hear it. They
don't want to spend the money to correct the problem and all of the clients
using the old, no longer supported database programs HAVE been warned and
they just don't have the resources to upgrade and to pay someone to transfer
the data into a newer program.
I am writing to you because I see you speak about the larger companies, power
plants and banks. People don't seem to understand that even if the banks,
power plants and government become Y2K compliant, very few small business
will be running come Y2K. This will affect everything else because these
small companies employ millions and provide parts and info for everything
else.
What I have stated above is true at EVERY place of business I visit. I don't
have a static route. I work at different places everyday of the week. All
small businesses. Everyplace from Heating & A/C companies to doctor's offices
to manufacturing plants. None of the places I have worked will have 100%
working computers on Jan 1, 2000.
The scary part is that no one seems to care. They all seem to think they'll
get around to fixing it next year.
Anyhow, I just thought you might be interested in hearing my experiences. I
know a lot of people don't agree with your scenarios. I'm not sure what will
happen myself. I do know that small business is in trouble
--
Paul Milne
"If you live within five miles of a 7-11, you're toast"
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