From Y2K to 2038, Lessons Learned from First Computer Crisis
It’s hard to imagine in these days of smartphones, iPads, and Google Glass that something called the Y2K bug threatened to topple technology, upset the economy and wreak general havoc at the close of the 20th century. But it did. Survivalists bunkered down. Preachers predicted the apocalypse. And ordinary folks wondered if any of it was real.
Was it? Was the Y2K bug a genuine threat – or just a hoax? And what did it all mean? To get some answers, Retro Report tracked down key players in this millennium drama – like Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster, author and consultant who first alerted his clients to the Y2K issue in the mid-1980s; and John Koskinen, the government’s Y2K czar, who directed the battle against the bug. They provide a riveting look at the problems then – and the implications now. We better get our ducks in a row because the 2038 bug is coming our way (maybe).
More Like This
A tragic bridge collapse in Miami echoes a similar event in Minnesota over a decade ago, one of the first signs of America’s growing infrastructure problem.
As gaming becomes the dominant form of entertainment this century, game developers increasingly track player behavior to tailor experiences that will keep people playing longer and spending more money.
We’ve teamed with PBS’ American Experience to take a look back at Freeman Dyson, who explored whether interplanetary space travel could be made possible by harnessing the power of a nuclear bomb.
Catastrophic accidents at power plants have heightened fears about the safety of nuclear energy, but environmentalists and others are giving it renewed attention as a way to fight global warming.