It's 1997, and we only have three years left until the big millennial shift--actually the new millennium doesn't begin for four years, but for the sake of pop culture and a great tradition of miseducation, let's just play along with the year 2000 hype.

From pandering political bridges to cultist celestial gates, it seems that everyone has been happily struck by millenniumitis. However, the effects of the shift to the year 2000 very well could be trouble to many computer systems and to other electronic devices.

What is commonly referred to in corporate technology lingo as the "Year 2000 problem" arises from the fact that many mainframe computer systems use a two-digit date marker for the year, with the assumption that the first two digits are one and nine. When the year 2000 comes around, thousands of computers will think that 00 means 1900.

Uncorrected, this error could wreak havoc on data-reliant systems from financial firms to government agencies. As a matter of fact, some organizations involved in projections into the 21st century are already experiencing troubles. The consequences worldwide could be data confusion at a minimum and severe corruption to business failure at the worst.

Picture a state's department of motor vehicles. Your little brother, born in 1980, gets a ticket New Year's night in 2000, but because of the unconverted code in the DMV computer, he was ticketed in 1900 and now has a 100-year record!

One could even imagine the effects being felt here in Harvard's classrooms. Suppose the teaching fellows of Social Analysis 10: "Principles of Economics" are using a mainframe computer in Littauer to model the United States' gross domestic product from 1950 to 2050. Someone might be a bit curious after noticing a 50 percent drop in output after 1999.

In the past few years, corporate information managers have been hard at work trying to create an organized plan for converting their old system code to year 2000-compliant code.

With some experts pricing total conversion cost at up to $600 billion, this problem has ended up creating a new market, and many firms have been established solely to deal with the transition.

Fortunately, for most individuals, the year 2000 problem will not have a direct affect on their computers. You will not have to rush to make your system year 2000-compliant. Despite their various faults, most PCs and Macs are very capable of counting above 1999. However, with the expansion of the Internet, and thus links between personal and mainframe computers, there is an increased chance that data confusion will occur.

Even so, we all may be affected by the year 2000 problem due to similar date limitations within the embedded processors of more common electronic devices such as VCRs and microwaves.

The microchips in these devices often depend on electronic calendars and clocks. If you were a VCR and you suddenly thought it was 1900, you might overload just from the resulting identity crisis.

But perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of the year 2000 problem is not that is was not foreseen, but rather, that corporate and especially government managers do not see a pressing need to deal with it. Currently, less than 25 percent of US states have begun implementation or testing of year 2000 conversion plans. Often ill-informed state legislatures fail to provide adequate funding for the necessary risk assessment.

Even though the potential confusion that could result from this problem has been known for years, it is this attitude of neglect that could cause us all the most confusion.

--Baratunde R. Thurston '99 is the Claverly Hall User Assistant for HASCS, a member of the Harvard Computer Society and a Crimson editor.