Tick Tock 2000

Computer systems across the globe were at risk of failing after midnight, December 31, 1999 thanks to the “Millennium Bug.” For decades prior to 2000, computer software had been designed with a two-digit year code—“98” for 1998, for example—and the fear was that when computers’ internal clocks changed to “00” the computers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the year 2000 and the year 1900.

Like business owners everywhere, some laboratory owners were concerned by what the “mother of all computer glitches,” would mean not only for their computer systems, but also embedded systems in things like furnaces, telephones and alarm systems. Even if they were safe, would there be glitches at their banks, suppliers or clients’ offices?

In the end—on January 1—the much-hyped pandemonium never happened and no major failures were ever reported.