Nanosecond by nanosecond, the clock ticks toward the millennium and the biggest beta test in computer history - the rollover from 1999 to the year 2000. By some accounts, that first day of the new century is going to bring a silicon meltdown because millions of computers, literally, won't know what day it is. Stock exchanges, banks, airlines, government agencies, and major corporations are spending billions to make their systems compliant.
The Information Technology Association of America estimates it will cost more than $50 billion to fix computers in the United States, perhaps $600 billion worldwide. Some economists have predicted that the costs of fixing computer hardware and software are so high that the U.S. economy will be thrown into a recession. Some companies and governmental bodies, apparently hoping the problem will just go away, have barely begun to figure out what the Y2K issue means to their operations.
A member of Congress recently reported that some "mission-critical" Pentagon systems won't be fixed until 2009. Thankfully, those of us who work in computer-assisted journalism probably don't need to panic. Most of our hardware is relatively new; most of the applications we use regularly have tried to address the Year 2000 problem at least after a fashion; and most of our databases and spreadsheets don't depend on precise date calculations.
However, CAR specialists are suggested to test their systems, experiment with date handling, and assess older software applications which may face more complications due to Y2K.