Changes

==Cost of Y2K-related Efforts==

==Cost of Y2K-related Efforts==

There are varying estimates of the total costs related to performing hardware and software analysis, remediation and testing related to the Y2K issue.  Some estimates in the late 1990's put the worldwide cost in the trillions of dollars, but this has been dismissed as hyperbole.  A typical exaggeration was counting hardware/software upgrades that happened to be Y2K-compliant as Y2K-related expenditures, when they would have taken place anyway.  A more accurate estimate of the truly Y2K-driven analysis and cleanup effort would be in the tens of billions of dollars.<ref>[http://www.news.com/2009-1091-232056.html]Everyone pays a price for Y2K hype </ref>

There are varying estimates of the total costs related to performing hardware and software analysis, remediation and testing related to the Y2K issue.  Some estimates in the late 1990's put the worldwide cost in the trillions of dollars, but this has been dismissed as hyperbole.  A typical exaggeration was counting hardware/software upgrades that happened to be Y2K-compliant as Y2K-related expenditures, when they would have taken place anyway.  A more accurate estimate of the truly Y2K-driven analysis and cleanup effort would be in the tens of billions of dollars.<ref>[http://www.news.com/2009-1091-232056.html] Everyone pays a price for Y2K hype</ref>

In many cases involving computer hardware and packaged software, Y2K remediation was achieved by replacing or upgrading non-compliant versions with compliant ones.  The upgrade-related technology spending in the last half of the 1990's was a key contributor to the economic growth during that period.

In many cases involving computer hardware and packaged software, Y2K remediation was achieved by replacing or upgrading non-compliant versions with compliant ones.  The upgrade-related technology spending in the last half of the 1990's was a key contributor to the economic growth during that period.

Since Y2K analysis and remediation usually involves repeated testing of the same set of code, many companies and government agencies developed and/or improved their competency in software quality assurance.   

Since Y2K analysis and remediation usually involves repeated testing of the same set of code, many companies and government agencies developed and/or improved their competency in software quality assurance.   

The shortage of programmers trained in legacy languages like [[COBOL]] in the late 1990's provided an opportunity for companies in low-cost nations like [[India]] to offer outsourcing services to new markets.  Companies found that commodity-type assignments like Y2K remediation were a good fit for offshore outsourcing under these circumstances. <ref>http://www.lib.utk.edu/news/readyfortheworld/archives/the_world_is_flat/001189.html</ref>The momentum in using offshore programming continued and accelerated after January 1, 2000 had passed.

The shortage of programmers trained in legacy languages like [[COBOL]] in the late 1990's provided an opportunity for companies in low-cost nations like [[India]] to offer outsourcing services to new markets.  Companies found that commodity-type assignments like Y2K remediation were a good fit for offshore outsourcing under these circumstances.<ref>http://www.lib.utk.edu/news/readyfortheworld/archives/the_world_is_flat/001189.html</ref> The momentum in using offshore programming continued and accelerated after January 1, 2000 had passed.

A similar problem will be encountered in the year 2038, when 32 bit computers running the [[Linux|UNIX]] operating system will exceed their time storage capacity. 64 bit computers will not run into a similar problem for literally billions of years.

A similar problem will be encountered in the year 2038, when 32 bit computers running the [[Linux|UNIX]] operating system will exceed their time storage capacity. 64 bit computers will not run into a similar problem for literally billions of years.

{{reflist}}

{{reflist}}

==External Links==

==External links==

* http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/  

* http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/  

* http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/y2k/

* http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/y2k/