How We Beat the Y2K Bug (Or Not)

Experts predicted a computer apocalypse in the year 2000. But nothing happened. Did a multibillion dollar global effort save us or was it all a waste of time and money?

20 years ago, our world almost came crashing down. Financial markets were preparing for an economic meltdown. Countries around the globe were bracing for a worldwide shutdown.

All because of a bug.

The bug was a computer error. Experts had warned about it for years. Called the Year 2000 problem, or Y2K, it threatened to bring our newly computerized civilization to its knees.

That’s not what happened, of course.

So was it overblown? Or did a handful of concerned scientists and a multibillion dollar preventative effort save us from digital armageddon?

Depends on who you ask and we might never truly know.

But here’s how the Y2K bug was beaten . . . or not.

In 1993, Computerworld magazine became one of the first harbingers of the Y2K apocalypse. It published an article…