The Aughts

Recollections on every decade I’ve been alive.

The 60s is here.
The 70s is here.
The 80s is here.
The 90s is here.

Ah, the golden age of Information Technology consulting. Every company was convinced that when the clocks rolled over from 99 to 00, they were doomed. The 2 digit year in all of their systems would be read as 1900, and chaos would result. Automated bills would be generated and mailed out showing people 100 years in arrears, and planes would suddenly fall out of the sky. Nobody ever explained how the plane thing would happen with actual pilots on board, but it was a real concern of the “experts”, who insisted airlines (and everybody else) hire phone banks worth of consultants to come in and audit their computer code. The normal rate for these guys was around $150 an hour, plus all travel, food, and lodging. That is serious sizzle, even now.

They promised that without their expertise power would go out all over the world. Nuclear power plants would melt down. Subways would stop running. Missiles would release themselves from their silos. Prison doors would fling themselves open. Banks would implode. People built backyard bomb shelters stocked with survival gear. Gun sales soared. Leonard Nimoy (Mr Spock) released a survival video on VHS. People kept calling 911 just to ask if 911 was still there. Hospitals postponed surgeries.

All this panic was generated without social media, which was still in its infancy. This was still mostly word of mouth stuff. If the world was faced with this sort of doomsday scenario today, Musk and Zuckerberg and their bros would trigger Lord of the Flies.

All because geeks in the 1970s wanted to save a few bytes of storage. It seemed the revenge of the nerds was upon us.