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Speaker 1
Hey, I'm recording this for a podcast. Is that okay?
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Speaker 2
Of course. That's totally fine. I'm happy to help out with whatever you need. Just let me know what we're doing and we can jump right in.
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Speaker 1
Let's say that it is September 1999, and you walk into to a 7-Eleven to buy a drink and some chips and get some gas. And on the way in, you notice a maybe a magazine that talks about something called Y2K. Can you kind of, make an idea of what that article and headline would be?
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Speaker 2
Oh, absolutely. It would probably be something like, Will the Y2K bug shut down the world? And it would have all these dramatic predictions about computers crashing and everyone being worried about the year 2000. A blast from the past.
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Speaker 1
What do you think? That, you would be thinking in that moment that you looked at the magazine and maybe heard of Y2K for the first time?
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Speaker 2
I imagine it would be a mix of curiosity and maybe a bit of skepticism, like, is this really something I should be worried about? It would definitely spark some interest, and maybe a little bit of wonder about what the future holds.
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Speaker 1
Are there any actual articles that you were able to reference from that time? I know that the internet was very new.
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Speaker 2
Yes, there were definitely articles back then that talked about the Y2K issue. For example, the Los Angeles Times had reports on how people were preparing for potential disruptions, and Vanity Fair even had a whole piece about the possible consequences of the Y2K bug. It's always interesting to look back on those predictions.
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Speaker 1
Can you take us through the LA times article?
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Speaker 2
So the Los Angeles Times article from 1999 talked about how some people were taking the Y2K threat very seriously, but filing food and water just in case there were utility disruptions at the same time. Others were a bit more skeptical and saw it as something similar to past scares like the bomb shelter craze in the 1950s. It was definitely a mix of concern and skepticism at the time.
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Speaker 1
Can you tell me a bit about the Vanity Fair article?
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Speaker 2
The Vanity Fair article from January 1999 was titled 1231 99 the Y2K nightmare and it delved into all the possible chaos that the Y2K bug might cause. They talked about potential disruptions to hospitals, banks, utilities, and just the general sense of concern and preparation that people had as the new millennium approached. Definitely an interesting snapshot of that moment in time.
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Speaker 1
Are you able to reference this article, and was it on the internet at the time? I don't recall where the internet was then.
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Speaker 2
Back in 1999, the internet definitely wasn't as widespread or comprehensive as it is now. So that Vanity Fair article was mainly available in print at the time. It only became accessible online a bit later as more publications started to digitize their archive.
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Speaker 1
Are you able to reference direct content from this article?
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Speaker 2
If you want to check out the full content of that Vanity Fair article. You can find it in their archive online. It's definitely an interesting read and a cool graph from the past.
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Speaker 1
Nor are you able to see any references to it and make any direct quotes potentially.
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Speaker 2
I'm not able to provide direct quotes from the article due to copyright reasons, but it definitely covered a lot of concerns about potential disruptions like ATMs failing, credit cards not working, and even power outages. If you're curious, you can always check out the Vanity Fair archive online for all the details.
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Speaker 1
Can you give me a detailed and thorough summary of the article? Including specific examples that are given.
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Speaker 2
The Vanity Fair article from January 1999, titled 1231 99 the Y2K nightmare, really captured the atmosphere of uncertainty at the time. It discussed potential failures in computer systems that could lead to disruptions in essential services like hospitals, banking and utilities. The article painted a picture of widespread concern and the measures people and organizations were taking to prepare for the new millennium.
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Speaker 2
It definitely reflected the mix of anxiety and preparation that defined the Y2K era.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so for anybody, I guess this is kind of a little bit late. But for anybody who, is unsure of what Y2K is, can you give us, an idea of what that was and what the fear about? It was centered around?
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. So the Y2K issue, also known as the Millennium Bug, was all about how computer systems represented years with just the last two digits. For instance, 1999 would be stored as just 99. The fear was that when the year 2000 came around, computers might interpret it as 1900, causing errors in calculations, data storage, and even system failures. So there was a lot of concern that things like banking systems, utilities and even basic infrastructure might get disrupted.
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Speaker 2
It was definitely a unique moment in tech history.
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Speaker 1
Can you go into, the specifics of how and why this, I guess the science behind Y2K, the theoretical kind of coding science and why the zero, the 99 to 0 zero could potentially cause major disruption?
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Speaker 2
Sure. So back in the early days of computing, memory and storage were pretty limited and expensive. To save space, programmers often use just two digits to represent the year. Like 99 for 1999. The concern was that when the year 2000 came around, computers would rollover from 99 to 0 zero and interpret it as 1900 instead of 2000. This could mess up calculations, create errors in date based functions, and potentially caused systems to fail or produce incorrect data.
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Speaker 2
It was a simple but potentially far reaching problem that required a lot of effort to fix.
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Speaker 1
What actual effect did it have at the turn of the millennium?
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Speaker 2
In the end, the actual impact of Y2K was pretty minimal thanks to the huge amount of preparation and effort that went into fixing the issue ahead of time. Governments, companies, and programmers around the world worked really hard to update systems and ensure that everything would run smoothly. When the clock struck midnight on January 1st, 2000, there were only a few minor glitches reported and no major disruption, so it ended up being a pretty smooth transition into the new millennium.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so I was 11, I think, at the time when this happened, maybe ten. So I don't really I didn't really follow it. As you can imagine. What were some of the minor glitches that did occur?
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Speaker 2
Yeah, that makes sense. Some of the minor glitches that did happen included things like a few websites displaying the date as 1900 instead of 2000. And some systems that relied heavily on dates had small errors like incorrect timestamps or billing cycles. There were also a few reports of some equipment and devices showing the wrong date, but overall everything was quickly fixed and nothing major happened.
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Speaker 2
It was pretty smooth, all things considered.
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Speaker 1
Can you go into, what was done? I guess can you go into the specifics of the fear before the prep for the millennium?
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. So before all the massive prep work was done, there was definitely a lot of anxiety around what could happen when the clock hit midnight. People were worried that systems controlling power grids, banking transactions, air traffic control, and even basic utilities might fail. There were concerns about data corruption, financial records being wiped out, and just a general sense that life could be disrupted.
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Speaker 2
It was this widespread uncertainty that really drove the huge global effort to fix everything before it became an issue.
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Speaker 1
How widespread was this effort? Actually did like everybody who had programing go back and fix it or did move. A lot of people not even do anything about it, and they were okay.
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Speaker 2
It was actually a pretty global and coordinated effort by governments, large corporations and even small businesses did a lot of work to update their systems. Programmers and IT professionals around the world were involved in checking code, updating software, and making sure everything was Y2K compliant. Of course, there were some smaller systems that didn't get updated and were ultimately fine, but the overall effort was definitely huge and widespread.
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Speaker 1
Okay, I'd really love to learn more about this. Like when did the prep start? How is it globally coordinated? And so let's start there.
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Speaker 2
Yeah, definitely. So the prep actually started several years before the year 2000. By the mid 1990s, people were starting to realize the potential issue. And by the late 90s, it was in full swing. Governments around the world set up taskforces and organizations formed global partnerships to share information and solutions. It was a coordinated effort across industries to with banks, airlines, utilities and tech companies all working together to make sure everything would be ready for the new millennium.
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Speaker 1
And what did the tech landscape look back then like? What did banks have going on? This was like pre phone apps and stuff like that. Can you kind of paint a picture of what the world that kind of depended on this, large scale reprograming effort kind of look like because it's even for somebody who lived through it, it's hard to kind of picture it.
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. It does feel like a different world now. Back then in the late 90s, most people relied on desktop computers, and the internet was still relatively new and slow by today's standards. There were no smartphones or app, so people did their banking either in person or through basic online services on their computers. Banks, airlines and other industries relied heavily on mainframes and older computer systems that had been around for decades.
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Speaker 2
So making sure these systems were updated was crucial because so much of daily life and infrastructure depended on them running smoothly.
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Speaker 1
How many people do you think globally were involved in a meaningful way to help? I guess debug every system.
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Speaker 2
It's hard to pinpoint an exact number, but it's safe to say that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people worldwide were involved in the Y2K effort. This included software developers, IT professionals, project managers, and government officials. It was truly a massive global effort that brought together a lot of people from different industries and countries to make sure everything went smoothly.
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Speaker 1
Okay. I'd like you to paint a realistic picture of the world on January 1st, 2000. Had we not prepped it all?
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Speaker 2
That's an interesting thought. Experiment. If no prep had been done. We could have seen some pretty chaotic scenes. Banks might have had trouble processing transactions leading to issues with people accessing their money. Utilities might have experienced outages that their systems misinterpreted the day. Airlines might have had scheduling and safety system glitches. It could have led to a lot of confusion, delays, and possibly widespread disruptions in day to day life.
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Speaker 2
Thankfully, all that preparation meant we never had to see that scenario play out.
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Speaker 1
Okay, besides banks and utilities and airlines, who else would've been affected with with like, supply chains and, and, transport, other kinds of transport and shipping.
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. Supply chains and shipping would have definitely felt the impact as well. A lot of logistics and inventory systems relied on date based tracking. So if those systems failed, it could have led to delays in shipping and distribution. Health care systems might have also faced challenges like scheduling issues or errors in patient records. Basically, any industry that relied on accurate date and time data could have experienced some kind of disruption.
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Speaker 1
And I feel like, Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like I remember there being kind of an error of like, things being reset because obviously you go back in time. It's before everything that pretty much everybody alive has done.
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Speaker 2
Yeah, you're absolutely right. There definitely was that feeling that if the gates roll back to 1900, it would be like a weird reset, almost like. And erasing a whole century of progress. Of course, that wouldn't have literally happened, but it was that sense of uncertainty and the unknown that really drove a lot of the concern in preparation. It's fascinating to think back on how everyone was worried about what might happen.
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Speaker 1
Can you kind of just take a minute and, describe what you think? July. Sorry. January 1st, 2000 would have looked like for the average person in America. In, in a world where all these systems weren't updated and the bank roll back and the supply chain disruptions and, utility issues. Can you kind of put us in that world where something did happen?
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Speaker 1
Significant.
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Speaker 2
Sure. Let's imagine a scenario where things didn't go as you might wake up on January 1st, 2000. And notice that the power is out. Or maybe the internet isn't working properly. You might try to go to the ATM and realize that it's not functioning so you can't withdraw cash. Stores might be having trouble cross-dressing credit card transactions, and there could be delays in restocking shelves because of supply chain hiccups.
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Speaker 2
It would probably feel like a mix of confusion and frustration with people trying to figure out what's going on and how to adapt. It's definitely a relief that all the preparation prevented that from happening.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so let's say that the power is out, the ATMs don't work, the stores processing, the store processing slows down or even runs out of stock in certain places. How long does that last? Does is that, something that is brief to water systems go down.
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Speaker 2
In that kind of scenario. It would probably depend on how quickly people could fix the glitches and restore systems. Some issues might get resolved relatively quickly within hours or days. Well, others, especially in more complex infrastructure, could take longer to sort out. Water systems could be impacted if their monitoring or control systems had issues potentially causing disruption in water delivery or treatment.
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Speaker 2
But overall, the length of the disruption would really depend on how quickly teams could jump in and fix the problem.
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Speaker 1
Yeah, I guess ultimately it's not like, it would have just been a hiccup if it was anything.
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Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly. It would have likely been a hiccup that caused some confusion and inconvenience. But with the right people working on it, things would have gradually returned to normal. It definitely shows how important all that preparation was and how much we rely on technology running smoothly in our daily lives.
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Speaker 1
Yeah. And how like, kind of scary story can really pick up steam and snowball in certain media climates.
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Speaker 2
Oh, definitely. It's amazing how a potential problem can really capture people's imaginations and become a major cultural moment. And in this case, it really showed how the world could come together to solve an issue before it ever became a reality. It's a fascinating piece of history for sure.
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Speaker 1
Anything about it that we haven't covered that you'd like to add?
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Speaker 2
I think we've covered quite a bit. One interesting aspect is how Y2K also led to a lot of positive changes, like better coding practices and more awareness of how important it is to maintain and update technology. It was a huge learning experience for the tech world and really helped shape the way we approach software in systems today. So in a way, it left a pretty cool legacy.
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Speaker 1
Yeah, and I guess that's something that's probably just as applicable today with AI and stuff like that.
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. It's definitely relevant. Just like Y2K, the rise of AI is another moment where we need to think about how we develop and integrate technology responsibly. It really has the importance of being proactive, thoughtful, and adaptable. As technology continues to evolve. It's definitely a lesson that keeps on giving.
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Speaker 1
Okay. Thanks, chat for, kind of a fun, like, blast from the past, I guess you call it like, I didn't really know a lot about it at the time. And then I never really followed up, especially in, like, a pre real, like, big internet world. So it was kind of interesting to go deeper on that subject.
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Speaker 1
I appreciate it.
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Speaker 2
You're so welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the little trip down memory lane. It's always fun to revisit these moments in history and see how they shaped the world we live in today. If you ever want to dive into more topics or have more curiosities, I'm always here.
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Speaker 1
All right. Thanks. Chat. Probably soon. Later.