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Technology Stocks : Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (528)	7/19/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: Darrel McPherson	Respond to of 618

Thanks John! I appreciate your input. darrel

To: John Mansfield who wrote (528)	7/22/1998 3:31:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 618

'Y2K on the Home Front By Lois Porlier Anyone who has a husband as immersed in Y2K as mine is, most certainly has a heightened sensitivity to the Millennium Bug. But the events of the last 7 days in my life have given me more than sensitivity. Victor thought his readers might derive some new insights from the tale. I had noticed something awkward about the steering on our new sport utility vehicle (UTE) right after a routine maintenance during which the tires were rotated. It was difficult to keep the vehicle going straight. It would pull to the left and then become very difficult to handle -- like driving without power steering, abruptly veering back and forth. "It needs an alignment and perhaps the power steering fluid needs to be checked," I thought. Four days later, (the earliest appointment I could get) I waited for three hours in the un-air conditioned dealership, while the mercury hit 90 degrees. I was surprised when the service manager told me that my 4 month old UTE needed parts. He explained to me that what I had thought was a car was, in fact, a "computer on wheels". He told me that my "EVO" had "a bad chip" and that it would have to be replaced. He explained that the diagnostics are fairly simple in that they are performed with the use of a computerized hand-held tool. Whenever any repairs/ upgrades are required, the manufacturer simply sends a disk which is uploaded into the unit which in turn attaches to the vehicle and updates the system that keeps the car functioning. A far cry from the "grease monkey" days. "If it's so simple", I asked the service manager, "could the manufacturers simply send a disk to update whatever date sensitive chips there might be before 2000?" He said the diagnostics were such that they could identify what system was in trouble, but could not specify the exact location of the fault. With the dearth of information coming out of the car manufacturers, it is difficult to know if embedded chips in vehicles are much of an issue. But it would be reassuring to know what one might reasonably expect should a chip fail while the vehicle is operating. It certainly would be interesting to know how many date-sensitive chips there are in any given vehicle. There is an enormous amount of anxiety involved when one thinks of the prospect of embedded chip failure on a snowy road in the middle of the night or in heavy traffic. My exchange with the service manager, (he even invited me in to see the technician if I wanted), was very cordial and decidedly different from the reports by others on the Net who have encountered anger and hostility when asking car dealerships about Y2K. The lesson here is that, there will undoubtedly be Y2K liability issues for the car manufacturers, but perhaps they could mitigate their liability by being a little more forthcoming about the subject of their preparedness and things about which we should be aware. We are a nation that depends heavily on our vehicles. What about the police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, repair trucks? We sell cars by appealing to people's sense of safety, do we not? The Michelin Tire baby, the boy in the back seat of the Mercedes' UTE, immediately come to mind. Obviously, the car manufacturer that demonstrates a willingness to work with its customers will build enormous brand loyalty. (Of course, the manufacturer that offers us a Y2K compliant vehicle will probably corner the market.) ... y2ktimebomb.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (528)	7/22/1998 4:45:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 618

'Small firms shun Y2K bug Inability of small businesses to confront problem could hamper economy July 2, 1998: 9:45 a.m. ET Justice Dept. To Let Securities Firms Compare Y2K Notes - July 2, 1998 Bellcore Tackles Year 2000 Problem Head On - June 30, 1998 Canada - 90 Percent of Small Businesses Unready For Year 2000 - April 23, 1998 Small Business Administration More related sites... NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Small companies are particularly vulnerable to the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug, yet many business owners are ignoring the problem, according to the Small Business Administration. Unlike larger public and private organizations, which have task forces working to resolve the Y2K issue, many small business owners seem unfazed by or even unaware of the problem, the SBA reported. The Y2K bug could result in major computer malfunctions due to an inability to handle the calendar change to the year 2000. ... The inability of small businesses to cope with the Year 2000 bug could have far-reaching economic effects, added Alvarez. "The collective health of America's 23 million small business is one of our economy's vital signs. When small business is disrupted to a significant degree, the effects ripple throughout the economy," Alvarez said. To counter the problem, the SBA has undertaken a national public awareness campaign to alert small businesses to the risks associated with the Year 2000 computer problem. A small business may be vulnerable to the problem either through its own computer system or through frequent and critical exposure to outside entities -- such as customers or suppliers -- with their own Y2K problems. A company could also be susceptible through the malfunction of machinery or equipment that operates on time-dependent embedded microprocessors, such as security cards, elevators or telephones. cnnfn.com