Y2K, How Will It Affect The Daily Consumer

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 1999--Computers coordinate many aspects of our daily lives, both behind the scenes and in plain view throughout the day.

Computers enable us to take money from the ATM machine. They coordinate the inventory in grocery stores and the delivery schedules of staples that for generations have been available on demand. Society is gradually moving toward a paperless environment. So what about Y2K? What is it and how might it affect us?

The Y2K Bug, or Year 2000 problem, deals with the inability of many computer networks to comprehend dates beyond Dec. 31, 1999. The reason for this is that the field reading years is limited to two instead of four characters.

Consequently, when the millennium changes, computer networks will read ``00'' which will be interpreted as 1900 as opposed to 2000 thereby causing many networks to malfunction or become inoperable.

Should this occur, there could very well be a period of time when things are interrupted. Flight schedules are delayed, inventory is not shipped, and the checks are not deposited on time. The extent to which this does or does not occur depends on which computer networks become ``infected'' with the bug and what kinds of redundancy procedures are in place.

This information is critical for the discerning investor. Subsequently, Y2K Aware has begun interviewing hundreds of companies and conducting background research to determine the overall state of readiness and what contingency plans are in place.

Visit www.y2kalert.org to see if these companies have remedied the Y2K Bug.

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