We are living in a rare time of the history. It is that we can be experienced two centuries. Before reaching the last year of 20 centuries, the world is shaking together with the Y2K (2000 years) problem with millenium.　It is that it may happen by computer miss-operation such as a fall of airplane, a big blackout, a suspension the Shinkansen and banking agency data may be wrongly written down. Therefore it is reported in Japan some 100,000 people go to work in both days of 31 December and New Year's Day. One of a feature of this Y2K problem is that two groups made different explanation. It is said that a countermeasure is fully done by electric power companies, banking agencies, airline companies, Japan railways, private railway companies. On the other hand mass communication and a supermarket are inciting an emergency. Consequently the Y2K goods sale of the water and the non-staple food is favorable in the supermarket. Let's try to think about a Y2K problem a little scientifically.

What is the Y2K problem?

The age when a computer was expensive had to reduce memories at all, and the software which made it investigate YYMMDD, that is, year, month, day by two digits. At that time they had shown YYNNDD by two digits without showing it by four digits though of course there was no problem in the recent software. In this case, 99 may indicate as year of 1999. Then what will be meant 00? Will it be year in 1900 or 2000?

As a matter of fact, there is no definition of the world unification, and there is a problem in it in the place where only the programmer who made the software knows.

Though it is a wonderful computer development, as matter of fact it is a human who is making the software which moves it, and there is even what it has known since the beginning in the problem for 2000 years. Though a computer seems to be the lump of the logic, it has a aspect of human beings where it isn't logical. It is one side of the Y2K problem where this isn't known.

What kind of problem happens?

What will happen when it is inputted with 00 as year? It will be indicated and printed simply as 00 year. It is their choice if it is interpreted with 2000 years even if this is taken with 1900 years. There is a problem in the software which handles a date for the automatic calculation and the automatic control. It will be some possibility of computer system stop or calculate with wrong data when they input a year as 00 for January first 2000, because of computer may judge the data as past date when a position of program that judge big and small relation comparing with past date. This is the problem of the office work computer. On the other hand the industry computer may suspend automatic operation or won't be able to start automatically when the computer can't judge the actual date. A Y2K problem by the computer is up to here, and the rest is the Y2K problem which a human being will set up. In the case of the office computer, it has the possibility that data will be removed by accident　when the human being who doesn't get accustomed will re-start the computer. In the case of the industrial computer, it has the possibility that miss-operation will be made by the manual operation because of under no protection circuit by the computer system when they can't operate automatic operation. When one system stops, for example a blackout occurs, it will bring out pump stops then water stop, the train stops.

This is the actual condition of the Y2K problem.

Conclusion

Mass communication is reporting the Y2K problem that all computers may begin to go wrong in 2000. But as a matter of fact, it is a matter of only the software which handles a date and moreover it just and only stops, and it must know that it is a human being to have the possibility that a problem is enlarged. The user who handles a big system spends a considerable period, and brings a Y2K countermeasure.

What will report the mass communication on New Year's Day though I predict that a big problem will not occur for such a reason as for Japan?

Dec.20,1999