On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
February 10, 1999 Permalink
Write this down, say this to yourself, we still have over 10 months before the rollover. Yes, the failure rate is increasing as the Jo Anne Effect moves from the rare pathological phase to problems processing February transactions; each month from now on, a new batch of clueless companies will hit the wall and stagger back, eyes crossed, nose bleeding and saying, “Wha? Huh? What was that?”
The initial collection will patch their systems but some small percentage of each group will include companies that do not have the geeks to fix their JAE failures. These companies will merge, close their doors, sell out, or quietly slip away into the night.
It will be like viral loading, the difference between a 24 hour bug and Ebola. At some point, the load will overwhelm our defenses and the collapse will begin.
When the collapse occurs, it will happen so fast that we will not be able to react.
At this time, everyone knows what the risks are. Most people don’t want to believe that a Y2K collapse is possible. Even the most slow-witted out there realize that there will be some kind of Y2K event but they are pushing it out of their consciousness.
Prior to the Y2K event, there will be a pre-event triggered by a psychological turnover. Perhaps a couple weeks in which the stock market loses a 1/4 of its valuation, perhaps it will be early runs on stores, or riots as has happened before in troubled areas.
As we approach the psychological singularity, the loony cries of the denial-heads will become ever more crazed and frantic. Read John Kenneth Galbraith’s “1929”. The parallels are clear.
—Cory Hamasaki, Cory Hamasaki’s DC Y2K Weather Report, 02/10/99
