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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Ounce who wrote (859)	1/8/1998 8:58:00 PM
From: Todd J.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

I think the following article hit the nail right on the head...excerpts... amcity.com On The Millennium Bug 'Millennium bug' will be a ton of trouble Bosworth Todd The Year-2000 problem is a looming threat to the global economy. It is not being taken seriously enough, however. Neither the general public nor investors know very much about it... No magic bullet... Many people find it hard to believe that the problem has no simple solution but no magic bullet is available. Too many different software languages, programs and computer systems exist; thus they cannot be fixed with one simple, ingenious solution. Some currently noncompliant systems are so huge and complex that simply not enough time is left to fix and test them. The Internal Revenue Service is an especially relevant example. ...One observer likened the problem to having to replace all the rivets on the Golden Gate Bridge, one at a time, without interrupting traffic, without a blueprint for the locations of some of the rivets and do it by the deadline...Don't forget embedded chips... Failure to comply with Y2K problems could not only lead to increased consolidation activity, bankruptcies or corporate failures, but result in other financial consequences such as class-action lawsuits, possible loss of coverage by insurance companies, professional malpractice, or officer and director liability... The surprising thing is that at this late date, most large computer users are still dragging their feet on dealing with the problem. Peter DeJager, a computer consultant, was one of the first to sound the Y2K alarm and recently found that no more than one-third of the private companies surveyed know exactly what they have to do to fix their systems and when they are going to do it. At this point, we believe Y2K will not be an Armageddon; but it will probably be tons of trouble because of the huge scope of the problem, not the difficulty of fixes per se. Solving Y2K takes more time than anything else. Y2K is a serious global problem. The level of awareness is low. Except for the Internet, the media has neglected this issue. Time is short. Repair is costly. Government and industry are not taking it seriously. No quick fix is available and repair is time-consuming. Because the "network is the computer," the laggards can screw it up. We believe Y2K will dominate the headlines within a year. Bosworth Todd is chairman of Todd Investment Advisors Inc. c 1998, Business First