Bob Kerrey: “one of the challenges of the 21st century is already upon us. It is commonly known as the year 2000 computer problem or…”

“one of the challenges of the 21st century is already upon us. It is commonly known as the year 2000 computer problem or the millennium bug. At issue is a programming technique that could lead to the malfunction of computer systems worldwide on January 1, 2000. It is essential that government, business, and personal computer users take adequate steps to fix this problem in advance of December 31, 1999, to ensure that cyberspace enters the next millennium without a hitch. During the early years of computing, computer storage space was incredibly expensive. Storage space that costs only 10 cents per megabyte today, cost $36 per megabyte in 1972. In an effort to reduce storage costs, computer programmers commonly programmed date information using only two digits to indicate the year. For example, 1999 would be programmed as 99. This clever space saving trick saved computer users millions of dollars and became industry practice because programmers believed that by the time the year 2000 arrived any code they were working on would be obsolete and out of service. Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom was wrong and many computer systems still use these programs. Computers and computer software programmed in this fashion may misinterpret the year 2000 as 1900. This electronic confusion could lead to serious malfunction or collapse of computers and computer networks around the world.”