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Peter de Jager is the prophet without much honor in the y2k awareness effort. His 1993 article, "Doomsday," launched the awareness campaign. In the April, 1997, issue of DATAMATION, he pointed to the obvious: the PC platform is no better than its software, and software has problems. Yes, even Mac software.
Think about the networks that rely on PC's. Think about the data shared by PC's with mainframes. We are back to the problem of systems. In one phrase -- garbage in, garbage out -- the problem can be grasped. On this concept, Western civilization now hangs, like Jonathan Edwards' spider, on a thin strand. Or, as de Jager puts it, like someone walking on thin ice. (Sounds Dutch to me!)
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Unlike Intel-based hardware, which typically has a date-rollover problem, the Mac handles the Y2K situation perfectly. The Mac knows that January 1, 2000, comes after December 31, 1999.
But this doesn't mean there's no Year 2000 problem on the Mac. Why? Because the Year 2000 problem is both a hardware and a software problem. Mac software still demonstrates the same types of Year 2000 problems as do PCs, minis, mainframes, and satellites.
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