Iin the year of 1999, the real concern for technology failure had become an enormous topic for people around the world, “It does the whole coast and the whole country and wraps around the globe” (Maney). This is the year that data would need to change to the 2000s, which is a problem that was not prepared for. New Year’s 1999 would become known as the end of the world, and referred to as Y2K, “The Y2K bug was a computer flaw, or bug, that may have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999” (Rutledge et al.). Companies had not thought of this problem, which would muddle up their data. A staff member from Christian Science Monitor, named Laurent Belsie states, “Operated by computers, which may not know how to interpret the year "00," such systems face a risky future. It will cost the world anywhere from $150 billion to more than $1 trillion to fix the "Year 2000 problem" or, more simply, "Y2K." And while some countries are sprinting toward the deadline, others are still milling around at the starting gate. Alarmists sound shrill, but there are real concerns” (Belsie). The rush to save the world had …show more content…
A member of the family, named Ken Sherman, explains “We needed 4 digits for 2000, but we only had two digits. After 1999 it would go back to 0. When it did calculations, then it would all be wrong. If you were born in 2001, you wouldn’t be considered 1 years old. I think you’d be seen as 101 or possibly a negative number, because 1900 was hardcoded in. It was always assumed” (Sherman). Ken worked in the programming field since he had graduated from college, “Computer programmers write and test code that allows computer applications and software programs to function properly. They turn the program designs created by software developers and engineers into instructions that a computer can follow” (Computer Programmers). Ken’s job allowed him to have a diverse view of what could happen, “When complicated computer programs were being written during the 1960s through the 1980s, computer engineers used a two-digit code for the year. The "19" was left out. Instead of a date reading 1970, it read 70” (Rutledge et al.). Ken worked to fix this particular issue in the year of