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Technology Stocks : Y2K (Year 2000) Personal Contingency Planning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (263)	5/3/1998 2:58:00 PM
From: Starfish*	Respond to of 888

From Internet Week May 04, 1998, TechWeb News ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time For Gov't To Step Up To The Plate On Y2K By Wayne Rash How does it feel to know that the job you have now could be gone in two years? That your savings could be wiped out? That you'll be losing your possessions, one by one? Unsettling, isn't it? Those are some of the scenarios that experts on the Year 2000 problem predict will happen in the United States within a few weeks of the beginning of 2000. There are a range of predictions, from the computer problems of the Year 2000 having virtually no effect to the fall of civilization as we know it. No one knows for sure-and that may be the biggest problem of all. The reality of the problems that come with the Y2K bug remains to be seen for the most part, although a few of them are starting to crop up. Despite what the doomsayers predict, we probably won't see catastrophe the day 2000 arrives. We will, however, experience a steady corrosion of commerce as systems struggle to cope with inaccurate data, faulty computations and false assumptions on the part of managers. These problems will occur in all parts of the economy, and there will be some negative effect on the U.S. economy. Whether the problems materialize in the form of a mild slowdown, recession or a full-fledged market collapse depends on how quickly markets can adapt to the corrosive effects of bad data. A great deal more depends on how quickly private and public organizations learn to work together. Already, private companies are working to change. Many companies are buying new computer systems. This is a good sign, but, unfortunately, the public sector isn't following suit. The government, in fact, probably will not be ready for the Year 2000 problem. Part of the fault for this tardiness is that reduced levels of funding mean the government is using computer systems that are obsolete and can't be upgraded. Most of the fault, however, lies with inertia. The executive branch, to which most of the computers belong, simply hasn't made the Year 2000 problem a priority. Although it's unlikely that President Bill Clinton can find much time to solve the problem between grand jury hearings and alleged trysts, Vice President Al Gore, the administration's much-vaunted super geek, has no such excuse. So why is it that the administration is now admitting it will be unable to fix problems at the Defense Department, for example? Why is it that we don't hear the vice president speaking out on this issue? Can it be that he doesn't understand the problem? If that's the case, perhaps the best last chance the technology industry has is to hold him to account and demand answers. The problems will start in two years. How long do you want to wait? Wayne Rash is senior technology editor at InternetWeek. He can be reached at wrash@mindspring.com or wrash@cmp.com. Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc.