By: Bridget and Noelle

HOW IT ALL STARTED• Computers run our world today.

They determine whether we have water to drink, heat to warm us, food to eat. When computers were made they were taught to keep up with two digits instead of four, so in the year 2000 people thought computers would get it confused with 1900. People found out about it and the world seemed to be in complete chaos. People thought businesses would close down, food and water would run short. There were a lot of rumors like this such as…

Rumors..• There were rumors of

banks being shut down, and their system collapsing.

• There was a myth of a hospital VP telling his staff, “Were going to kill patients on New Years Eve because there will not be any medicine to treat them anymore.

Rumors…• People thought airplanes

would stop flying and crash on the ground.

• People were saying Nuclear weapons will be accidentally launched because the computers would freak out and launch them on accident.

• Money would not be available through ATMS.

• Water would not come out of the taps and you would not be able to put gas in your car.

Y2K cartoon

Preparing for the worst• Some people were so

afraid of Y2K that they built bomb shelters, and stocked up on canned food.

• People had broadcasts to help communities get prepared for January 2000.

• People raced around to make themselves y2k prepared for the fast approaching deadline.

Preparing for the worst• People were expecting Y2K

to be one of the worlds worst things to happen to them because as we know computers control our lives. People thought when the clock stuck midnight people would start killing each other, breaking into homes and stealing things and just total mayhem. In this picture shown below, a gun shop was actually selling guns for people to be Y2K ready.

Y2k scared ! !• "Around the world, hundreds of millions of computers will also

make the transition from the old year to the new, from the year 1999 to the year 2000. And when they do, many of these engines of modern society will begin to crash or malfunction, precipitating a global crisis, the scope of which we have not experienced since World War II."The above is a quote the book Millennium Meltdown written by Grant Jeffrey

• Jeffrey also said that, “the failure to correct this massive problem before the Year 2000 deadline will threaten jobs, our food, and our finances.”

Media scares• When people first began

talking about Y2K, the media said they wanted people to react “calmly”….How are people supposed to react calmly when they just heard their WORLD IS COMING TO A END, even though not all people believed this, the media was the only thing that people could count on for information. About this and instead they were making up rumors and lies to get people even more scared.

• People blame the media more than anything for making Y2K such a hysterical time.

But who can I blame for this?• In the crucible blaming people for their problems seemed

to be the only answer to everyone’s problem and was the only way to save their own life even if it meant blaming someone who was completely innocent.

• So who was to blame for the Y2K problem? According to Harry White, the defense Department’s computer specialist much of the blame can be placed on the Defense Department intransigence. Basically it was the media’s fault too because there the ones that Because they knew something like this could have happened and yet they still took their chances with the two digits. When 2000 came around they were the people to first alert the media of anything happening with technology.

What happened when the clock struck midnight???

• When the clock hit midnight on January 2000 people were shocked to see that nothing happened, they thought the world was going to end like all the rumors had said.

• Big companies switched off their main computers and put the back up computers on in case everything really did shut down, when it didn’t they were happy they didn’t have to use the back up computers.

• The pentagon’s spy satellite was blinded and basically useless, meaning the U.S couldn’t see what was happening inside of its own country.

Reactions• After Y2K people began to

realize how they were acting and somewhat began making fun of themselves. A lot of different Y2K products came out such as mugs, computer jokes, little “computer bugs”, and even a doll called the Millennium Man. This can also relate to The crucible because after it happened they kind of realized they were acting stupid and just got caught up in what everyone was saying.

The Crucible and Y2K• The crucible and Y2K are a like because something

happened in a town or in Y2K’s case a country that had people getting worked up over basically nothing. At the time you think it is actually worth freaking out about, but afterwards both groups of people realized they were reacting over nothing. Even though The Crucible and Y2k were at completely different time periods that shows you how much people have not really changed and how much people listen to others rather than how they themselves feel about the issue.

Abigail Vs. Media..Abigail was the one that started all the rumors and blamed all those people of witch craft. She covered up dancing in the woods by lying and telling something that was false in order to save herself. Some people knew she was lying but still went along with her, such as with Y2K some people thought everyone was overreacting but they still went along because everyone else was scared and they thought they had to follow what everyone else was doing.

Taking things for granted • After Y2K’s scare about technology being destroyed people seemed

to realize how much we really do have and how much technology really affects our everyday lives.

• Think about it…• how much do you use technology in a day?• Examples:• Cell phones• computers• TV• microwave, toasters, etc.• cars

• Basically you could not live without technology.

Work Citedo Kraig, Michael. Safe or Sorry: The “y2k problem” and nuclear weapons. March/April

1999. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. November 7,2005.http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ma99kraigo Large, Jeff. Faith or Furry in the new millennium. July 1999. Fear of Y2K. November

6,2005. http://www.ac.cc.md.us/~marks/y2k.htmo Passantino, Bob. Here's what the Plain Truth had to say about Y2K. May/ June 1999.

Y2K: Debunking the Myths. November 5,2005.http://www.ptm.org/uni/Special/AnswersY2K.htmo Packard, Hewlett and Conrad, Scott. Last- Minute Advice for Solving Y2K Problems.

April 1999. Last Minute Advice for Solving Y2K Problems. November 4, 2005.http://www.evaluationengineering.com/archive/articles/1099y2k.htmo Robb, Drew. Small Business Computing. September 14, 2004. XP SP2 Scare--Just

Another Y2K scare. November 5,2005.http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/biztools/article.php/3407631