>Speaking as someone who was programming in 1983 no, we weren't thinking about Y2K. We were thinking "how the h&*^ do we get this beast out the door on deadline" or if in long-term mode "they won't be using this in 10 years -- we can think up a better way next time round."
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>Certainly I was not developing systems on "microcomputers" that I expect to last more than 3 - 5 years. I was expecting hardware & software to evolve so that most of what I did would be redundant within that sort of timeframe. I do however have a system in dBASE III that has been running since 1984! Still running on the same XT. Needless to say, it doesn't get a lot of use... But it does it's job so there seems to be no need to change it. Actually, last time I saw the system (it's in London, I'm in Boston,MA,USA) was almost 2 years ago. It might well fail in 2000, as it does employ dates. However, after 16 years it's certainly paid for itself. I certainly didn't expect it to last that long.
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>So, guess I'm guilty of being a contributor to the Y2K problem. So impeach me...

So you as well as anyone should understand the severity of the situation. I just hope the critical systems out there are debugged enough to work come 2000/01/01. And if not, I hope there are good emergency plans in place...

I just know that I'm planning on being on a camping trip far away from airplanes and electricity when the Millenium hits. And the power to my house will be shut off at the source...

And, hey, you can party like its 1999 on a camping trip too :)

Joe