Y2K - An Elaborate Hoax?

Since the long awaited rollover into the worlds third millennium, no major disasters appear to have resulted from the dreaded Y2K bug.  Approximately US$500 billion was invested by companies and governments around the world to ensure the safety of our highly technological social infrastructure.  It seems that the majority of known problems were sufficiently fixed by computer programmers and technicians who deserve a wholehearted congratulations on a job well done.

The huge success of the eradication of Y2K problems came at a large price.  Australia spent approximately A$12 billion that averaged out to about A$500 per person.  The United States of America spent approximately US$100 billion over a five-year period.  This averaged out to about US$365 per person.  With a global cost of approximately US$500 billion success was certainly expensive, but imagine the costs that would have resulted from malfunctions if this money had been spent elsewhere.

The critical systems were fixed, however a lot of smaller less important problems occurred throughout the world.  Some of these may sound important but they were apparently fixed with little effort:

1. Automatic fault detection programs in the French military ground stations that are linked by satellites.
2. Operators in a nuclear power plant in Japan were not able to determine the position of control rods.
3. Radiation monitors in Hokuriku Electric Co's nuclear power plant were effected.
4. Japans largest cellular phone operator NTT Mobile Communications Network reported problems with message banks on users phones.
5. Wind-shear altert systems failed at airports in Tampa, Denver, Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago and St. Louis.
6. Two Internet sites dedicated to giving accurate time were effected.  Jan 1 19100 was given on www.swissinfo.net and 100-01-01 was displayed at www.businesswindow.com
7. Workers at a nuclear power plant in Arkansas were denied entry through automatic doors because of malfunctioning radiation monitoring units.
8. A federal building in Omaha was left wide open after a security access system had malfunctioned and locked the doors open.
9. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was forced to stop the licensing of businesses that sell guns because of software problems.  This could also affect the FBI because they use the same system to verify licensed gun dealers.

The list could go on and on with all the minor problems reported so far, and many more will be found over the next few months as 29 February ticks over and incremental Y2K problems start to arise.  One problem of extreme importance (particularly to the United States) that has been played down by authorities was the temporary loss of a US spy satellite system.  At the precise time of heightened alert for terrorist attacks, the Department of Defence (DOD) was blinded in one eye.  Luckily there was no terrorist activity to be reported.  Some of the information gathered by the satellite has now been "lost forever".  US deputy secretary of defence, John Hamre said that, "the incident was minor".  He later added that, "It was a significant source of information in our national intelligence capabilities".  On the first day of the year 2000, the DOD was "operating at less than our full peacetime level of activity".  One American State deliberately left three of their replaced computers with known problems running to determine and demonstrate what would happen.  "All three of the systems failed following the Y2K rollover and could not be used.  The systems simply stopped and became unusable ," said John Koskinen, President Clinton's top Y2K advisor.  This proves just how important and devastating the Y2K problem could have been if the governments and businesses of the world had not acted in time.

Some people and governments have now piped up saying that the whole thing was a hoax.  Cuba's communist government has said that the lack of problems "brings suspicions that the enormous investments in computers obeyed an audacious market manoeuvre."  The editor of Popular Electronics has also said, "Let's celebrate without any gloom and doom.  It's all a hoax!" 

In Australia, Queensland Labor Party backbencher Neil Roberts wants the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate the computer industry over the handling of the Y2K problem.  "Consumers, governments, companies all over the world have been duped by the industry, yes that's right" said Mr Roberts. 

Some people like Mr John Fowler, a spokesman for the Small Business Association of Australia , have been blowing their own horn and insulting every computer programmer that helped solve the problem, every government and every company that did the right thing by dedicating themselves to saving the worlds computer infrastructure.  Mr Fowler said,

"The Y2K, as I've been saying for the last six months, is the greatest con trick that was ever foisted upon business, full stop.  That's been proved today because no one's having any problems at all.  The amount of money spent on the Y2K and all the bloody money that the Government was conned into paying is a bloody disgrace.  The computer industry has stuffed itself and shot itself in the foot over the stupidity of Y2K."

May I remind Mr Fowler, Mr Roberts and everyone else that thinks the Y2K problem was all a hoax, that large intelligent global companies do not ignorantly waste millions of dollars on something that is not a real threat to their business!!!