y2kculture


SECTIONS
arts & leisure
finance
politics
reactions
reality check
BACKGROUND
home page
about us
contact us
press clippings
[predictions graphic]
predictions



Hosted by WebCom
[]
[]
[]
The 1999 Compliance Craze
By Declan McCullagh
February 23, 1999

Now we've seen everything.

Apple Computer was bad enough. We wince to remember Apple's Super Bowl ad trumpeting Y2K compliance claims -- while conveniently neglecting to mention that while the Mac's hardware may be OK, some applications won't make it past 1-1-00.

But a Y2K-compliant cutting board?

That's what Sanyo tells us. The company's listing of the "Bread Plus Slicing/Cutting Board" (model BS-1, in case you really care) cheerfully informs us: "This product is Y2K compliant."

Well, how could it not be? Look, it's a perfectly nice plastic ("dishwasher safe!") cutting board and all that, but not only are there no embedded clocks, there are no moving parts.

Somehow we don't think that a product designed "for easy cutting of fresh bread, bagels, fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. into straight slices" is going to be giving up the ghost come New Year's Eve. (Unless, perhaps, city-bound revelers adopt it as body armor to fend off the cannibal mutant looters.)

But wait -- that's not all.

Sanyo also tells us its cheese graters and Performax vacuum cleaners ("the power of a canister vac!") are Y2K compliant too. So are, you'll be glad to hear, its washers and dryers and VCRs.

Great. Just great. Now watch people start worrying about their pencils and golf balls too.

[] []
FEATURES
[]
Book Reviews
Y2K already has spawned its own genre. We tell you what books are worth buying.

Chip 'n Little Cartoons
Chip 'n Little goes on TV
Chip 'n Little visits John Koskinen
Chip 'n Little saves the world
Warning: This cartoon has been called "foolish and tasteless."

Y2K from A to Z

Y2K Haiku
Traditionalists may be shocked.

Mad Cow Culture
What does Y2K have in common with today's Mad Cow Culture? Answer: Everything.

Declan McCullagh's Y2K articles

Psychology of Y2K

LATEST NEWS
As of December 31, 1999
  • Get Your T-Shirt Quick
  • Bill Gates Does Y2K
  • Reader Feedback
  • A Sarcastic Calendar
  • Cooking After the Apocalypse
  • A Real Y2K Disaster
  • Hitchhiker's Guide Meets Y2K
  • Copyright 1999-2002. All rights reserved.