Monday, May 14, 2018
Approach of the New Millennium
In the late 1990s, people realized that computers were programmed to have the first two digit of each year be 19. With the turn of the millennium approaching, many feared that along with computers, airplanes, heat, and street lights might stop working. As a result, many computer programmers worked long hours to fix this problem in everyone's computer. While most just feared the crash of computers, some even believed that there would be an apocalypse of some kind. One family went as far as buying a house in the middle of nowhere, building a defense system, and stockpiling food which took them at least 10 years to get through. While it was somewhat scary at the time, the arrival of the 2000s clearly didn't cause any life-threatening effects.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In many places the problem actually did occur. For example, there were electronic signs in shops that displayed the date as 1900, instead of 2000. The reason it did not become a massive problem was because the United States and other nations did a lot of work to help prevent the more major incidents from happening.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the ultimate reason that caused people to panic so much over the switch from 1999 to 2000, aside from the fact that they might forever stay in the century of 1900? It wasn't as if the world was going to end. My opinion would be that people are both afraid and excited for changes, because it brought the unknown that people didn't want to face. The unknown in this situation was the clock not turning to 2000 and reverting back to 1900. But if you really think about it, how did people go from 1600 to 1700, 1700 to 1800, and so on? Did they face the same issues as 1900 to 2000?
ReplyDeleteI think that the reason people created such a panic in terms of the transition of 1999 to 200 was that people were afraid of the changes that will occur in the unknown century. The idea of the end of the world was coming was merely an excuse and scapegoat for people's fear of change. The 1900s was a time of invention and advancements, this is why people are scared of the uncertainty that 2000 will not stay the same way it has been.
ReplyDeleteThis freak out about the end of the world, nuclear warfare, and general disruption were seen as comical by some, but had reasons. A massive failure in technology could have been drastic, and it made people how much they actually relied on their devices and machinery.
ReplyDelete