World will go on despite Y2K hype

I suppose we all have to come down on one side or the other on when the new century and millennium officially begins. Some say Jan. 1, 2000, some say Jan. 1, 2001. I don't know which side you're on, but I've taken my stand. I'm a 2001-ite.

As virtually nonexistent as my mathematical skills may be, they are good enough to convince me that the 2000ers are dead-wrong. I'm a 2001-ite because when I count to 10, I don't start with zero nor do I stop at nine, and I don't stop at 99 when I count to 100. The 20th century doesn't end at 99 either. The movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" wasn't called that for nothing.

Although it's the last year of the 20th century, I'm pretty sure 2000 will be considered the first of the 21st. The hype surrounding the coming of a new century and millennium is too enticing to wait, especially since some misguided souls already think 2000 is the right time. I mean, a new millennium doesn't come around every day. Why, we haven't had one since 1001, not 1000.

Hype wasn't very advanced a thousand years ago, therefore the first millennium arrived without much fuss. But it's going to be Hype City as 1999 draws to a close.

There's also the little matter of the purported Y2K computer bug. Anyone who knows me realizes that about all I know about a computer is how to spell it. But even I know that the bug is supposed to arrive Jan. 1, 2000. Y2K will drive the hype about the new century rollover. Together they are a hypster's dream.

Y2K is already a topic of intense publicity. Y2K and the millennium will be blamed for more ills than global warming and the late, departed El Ni?o combined. That's saying a lot they've been blamed for everything from hurricanes to earthquakes to forest fires to heat waves to floods and droughts to Richard Simmons (just kidding).

My readers probably know more about Y2K than I do. As I understand it, computers use the last two digits of years for dates. When 2000 rolls in, computers will think it's 1900. (See, computers aren't nearly as smart as they think they are.) Dire warnings have been made about everything from bank accounts being wiped out to air travel mess-ups. I have a hot news flash: air travel can mess up all by itself without any help from Y2K.

Right now, becoming Y2K "compliant" is the buzz word. Everybody is working on it. Electronic Magazine's May 1999 issue reports that the older the personal computer, the more likely it is to malfunction. New ones are being marketed as compliant[[In-content Ad]]