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This February 7, 1997, report by the Office of Management and Budget describes what the government is facing, and therefore what every computer- based system is facing. The OMB report does not adopt apocalyptic language. Nevertheless, what it describes, if multipled across every computer-based organization, is nothing short of apocalyptic. Read just one sentence.
Speaking of computers -- all computers -- the report says: "Unless they are fixed or replaced, they will fail at the turn of the century in one of three ways: they will reject legitimate entries, or they will compute erroneous results, or they will simply not run" (p. 1).
Clear, isn't it? Inescapably clear. Anyone who says that warning of a worldwide disaster as a result of this problem is "a lot of hype" or "way overblown" needs to come to grips with this sentence.
Add to this the statement in the February, 1977, report by the General Accounting Office in its report, "Year 2000 Computing Crisis: An Assessment Guide": "Every federal agency is at risk of widespread systems failures" (p. 1).
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