Y2K - Shanda
Answer
What does Y2K represent?
The letter K, which stands for kilo (a unit of 1000), is also used to represent the number 1000. Y2K = Year 2000.
Y = year
2 = number 2
K = 1000
Y2K
What is the Y2K bug?
Also called the Millennium Bug, Y2K was considered a computer flaw. Complicated computer programs written by engineers in the 1960's through the 1980's, as an example; would leave off the "19" for 1970 and just use the two-digit code "70". They did this to use less data storage, data storage was very costly.
Why was Y2K considered a crisis?
The government and companies were concerned that at midnight on December 31, 1999, computers would not work or crash because the computers would not read or recognize the date January 1, 2000. People weren't sure how the computers would read the year 2000? Would the computers see the year 2000 as 0000, 1000, 1900, 2000? Because of this unknown, what facilities would be affected? Banking systems, Medical Hospitals, Airlines, Utility or power plants, the government, and other countless companies that rely on computers that require a date.
So what happened?
Well, nothing happened. It was a resounding zero. This made some people think Y2K was a hoax because there was no hysteria, planes falling from the sky, and just plain mayhem and destruction. For a couple years the media and government were sounding the alarms of doom. There had been a small malfunctions but nothing major. Some people said there were no problems because all the work done ahead of time had worked, others thought it Y2K was blown out of proportion.
References:
“Y2K Bug.” Education, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Y2K-bug/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Y2K-bug/
“Y2K Bug.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 23 Sept. 2024, www.britannica.com/technology/Y2K-bug. https://www.britannica.com/technology/Y2K-bug
Halton, Clay. “The Truth about Y2K: What Did and Didn’t Happen in the Year 2000.” Investopedia, Investopedia, www.investopedia.com/terms/y/y2k.asp. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
Request Rejected, americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/y2k. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/y2k
YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g0vULa09Uk. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g0vULa09Uk
Kelly, Jason. Y2K: It’s Already Too Late. Jason Kelly Press, 1998.
Images:
Kristof, Emory. Millennium Bug. https://images.nationalgeographic.org/image/upload/t_edhub_resource_key_image/v1638882767/EducationHub/photos/millennium-bug.jpg. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.