Thanks for mention all the effort that went into this Project. I started my career as a Systems Software engineer in 1977 working for a California bank. We knew back then that a two digit year was a bad idea and was going to bite us come the year 2000. But, as mentioned, memory was very expensive and, in fact, all storage medium was expe…
Thanks for mention all the effort that went into this Project. I started my career as a Systems Software engineer in 1977 working for a California bank. We knew back then that a two digit year was a bad idea and was going to bite us come the year 2000. But, as mentioned, memory was very expensive and, in fact, all storage medium was expensive. VERY expensive. Even the systems themselves (mainframe systems from IBM) were small systems in really big boxes. I have more computing power on my wrist (Apple watch) that our whole data center contained back then. And banking files store a LOT of dates so eliminating two digits from each date stored made sense.
Now forward to 1993. I changed jobs to work at another big California bank to work on the Y2K Preparedness Project that had already been underway for two years. Every single piece of equipment had to be check, rechecked and then certified by auditors. This was not just the computers though. This was HVAC equipment, electrical systems and water systems that were set up to keep the hardware and data center cooled as well. This was done over and over again for nine years to make sure we were ready. Finally, while the rest of the world attended the biggest party ever, I was in Tempe, Arizona doing the final certification and all was well by 04:00 MST.
But the truly amazing thing occurred on the drive back home to San Francisco. I-10 between Phoenix and the California state line can be a boring stretch of road so I turned on a talk radio station. For about three hours, I heard callers complaining about what to do with their pallets (yes, pallets, plural) of Spam or is it safe to keep that fifty gallon drum of gasoline in my garage? In the lead up to The Event, people would stop me in restaurants, having noticed my bank security badge and actually ask me if the world was going to end or if they would still have to pay their credit card bills, loans and/or mortgages. After reassuring them that, no, the world was not going to end and that we have been working for years to get ready, most felt better. The ones that didn't were probably the ones who bought a lot of stuff on credit they really couldn't afford. In the end, by February, nobody remembered The Event or note how much effort went in to making a literal Nothing Burger w/ a side of fries.
Interesting story Thomas. Crazy how your watch has more power than the whole data center did and that was just 25 yrs ago!...I didn't own a computer or cell back then. I was still using a beeper. Lol..so I didn't really care much about it all at the time. My mom spent $4000 on survival gear, most of which was sent back at my father's insistence. Thanks to you and all the other computer programmers Y2K was adverted and 2000 rang in with Prince's 1999 blaring and the majority of us, none the wiser.
Thanks for mention all the effort that went into this Project. I started my career as a Systems Software engineer in 1977 working for a California bank. We knew back then that a two digit year was a bad idea and was going to bite us come the year 2000. But, as mentioned, memory was very expensive and, in fact, all storage medium was expensive. VERY expensive. Even the systems themselves (mainframe systems from IBM) were small systems in really big boxes. I have more computing power on my wrist (Apple watch) that our whole data center contained back then. And banking files store a LOT of dates so eliminating two digits from each date stored made sense.
Now forward to 1993. I changed jobs to work at another big California bank to work on the Y2K Preparedness Project that had already been underway for two years. Every single piece of equipment had to be check, rechecked and then certified by auditors. This was not just the computers though. This was HVAC equipment, electrical systems and water systems that were set up to keep the hardware and data center cooled as well. This was done over and over again for nine years to make sure we were ready. Finally, while the rest of the world attended the biggest party ever, I was in Tempe, Arizona doing the final certification and all was well by 04:00 MST.
But the truly amazing thing occurred on the drive back home to San Francisco. I-10 between Phoenix and the California state line can be a boring stretch of road so I turned on a talk radio station. For about three hours, I heard callers complaining about what to do with their pallets (yes, pallets, plural) of Spam or is it safe to keep that fifty gallon drum of gasoline in my garage? In the lead up to The Event, people would stop me in restaurants, having noticed my bank security badge and actually ask me if the world was going to end or if they would still have to pay their credit card bills, loans and/or mortgages. After reassuring them that, no, the world was not going to end and that we have been working for years to get ready, most felt better. The ones that didn't were probably the ones who bought a lot of stuff on credit they really couldn't afford. In the end, by February, nobody remembered The Event or note how much effort went in to making a literal Nothing Burger w/ a side of fries.
Interesting story Thomas. Crazy how your watch has more power than the whole data center did and that was just 25 yrs ago!...I didn't own a computer or cell back then. I was still using a beeper. Lol..so I didn't really care much about it all at the time. My mom spent $4000 on survival gear, most of which was sent back at my father's insistence. Thanks to you and all the other computer programmers Y2K was adverted and 2000 rang in with Prince's 1999 blaring and the majority of us, none the wiser.
Well done guys!