SECTIONS

arts & leisure

finance

politics

reactions

reality check

BACKGROUND

home page

about us

contact us

press clippings

predictions

	Y2K Opportunity Knocks The Door Down By Solveig Singleton March 2, 1999 Fight pessimism! The latest buzz is that Y2K isn't really a problem. It's a challenge -- or, better yet, an opportunity. First, Y2K means we get to buy new stuff. A computer columnist writes that "Y2K, from this perspective, is more of a positive challenge than doom and gloom. It's the opportunity we've been waiting for to adapt our computing systems to our highly mobile world -- not the other way around." "Y2K can be a great opportunity to clean up and modernize the supply chain,'' predicts Roland S. Boreham, Jr., chairman of the board of Baldor Electric Co. in Fort Smith, Ark. Or, looked at a different way, we have to get rid of all our stuff. Some see opportunity in restraining the growth of technology and the consumer economy. Take futurist Robert Theobald, for instance. "It's not a computer problem, it is a problem of how we organize our society. What we have been doing for the last 40 years is forcing people into a consumer economy." (What a shame, right?) Another community activist in Hawaii reports that he "came to see Y2K as an incredible opportunity," because it "gives us the gumption to get our butts in gear. We have created technology that we serve rather than it serving us. I would trade all of it for a good, loving community with appropriate technology." (In case it's not clear, he's thinking ox-and-plow, folks.) Some Christians see Y2K as an opportunity to spread the word. Matt Hotchkiss, Washington state coordinator of the interdenominational Joseph Project, which encourages churches to prepare food, finances and supplies for Y2K, certainly does. He explains that "We believe Y2K is an opportunity disguised as a crisis... It's an opportunity to show Christ's love, for unity, for breaking down denominational barriers." He hopefully adds that it might bring on "one of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen." And Y2K gives us a chance to make society more environmentally friendly -- if not just plain nicer. Late in 1998, the Environmental Defense Fund released Y2K and the Environment: A Compendium of Potential Problems and Opportunities, seeing Y2K as an opportunity to "create a cleaner and safer world." Even more upbeat is Eric Utne, editor-in-chief of the Utne Reader and editor of the Y2K Citizens' Action Guide. He promises: "Y2K is the excuse we've been waiting for... Y2K is our opportunity to stop our polluting and wasteful practices, and start living more sustainable, environmentally friendly lives." We have -- there's that word again -- an "opportunity" to get in touch with our neighbors, too. Utne foresees Y2K providing "a tremendous opportunity to rekindle genuine community." Gordon Davidson, author of Life After Y2K, calles Y2K a "blessing in disguise," and "an opportunity to rebuild our communities... across all lines." An even more ambitious pair of authors, Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers, say that people long for community: "The irony of Y2K is that if we use it as an opportunity to re-create our communities and culture, whatever technological failures materialize won't have the same negative impact." Sheesh. And we thought there was barely time to fix the screwed-up code. Guess if we're going to remake society from the ground up in the next 304 days, we'd best get busy. Some of the other arguments for "opportunity" are, one hopes, too alarming to be true. One employment consulting agency suggests that Y2K will mean jobs for security guards, therapists (to quell those Y2K nervous jitters), and bartering agents who will help businesses trade goods if cash runs short. One optimist at the American Bar Association's 1998 convention reportedly called Y2K "the bug that finally provides lawyers the opportunity to rule the world." With the last word, though, we have James Robinson, US assistant attorney general, arguing that Y2K is an opportunity for disruption. "I would anticipate that the vulnerabilities created by the Y2K problem could create opportunities for people with less than honorable objectives to interfere with, engage in a variety of other activities that will undoubtedly keep federal prosecutors in work for a long time," he said. Thanks, Robinson, for that reality check. And here we were thinking that it was time to tell programmers to start creating more Y2Kesque glitches so we could experience some of that "opportunity" again in the future.		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