Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Y2K and long lead times on orders
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 16:02:04 -0500
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 14:54:19 -0500 To: farber () cis upenn edu From: "Richard J. Solomon" <richard () goodread com> The NYT on Friday had a sad story about how screwed up Boeing is on back orders for planes, but buried in the story is some insight on the real Y2K problem: Boeing changed their computer systems to handle 4-digit dates early to avoid Y2K from causing even further screw-ups, so now terminal users type in "97" TWICE for the date because the machine won't budge unless it gets four digits and everyone got used to just typing the last two for the year. Hence, their computers were storing orders for parts for the year 9797, and everything was getting backed up again in the warehouses. A little education could have solve the Y2K problem in the first place. Which goes for the global economy, too. Richard ************************************************** "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin, ~1784 **************************************************
Current thread:
- IP: Y2K and long lead times on orders Dave Farber (Nov 16)