Year 2000 Problem & Elevators

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Elevator Problem Discussion : One Thread

I'm not an elevator guy by any means (all I know about 'em is how to ride), but I ran across this link to a "Year 2000 Problem" blurb from Dover elevator company and thought of this forum. I'm sure you all are probably familiar with the year 2000 problem by now, and what affects it might (or might not) have on elevators. But just in case any of you aren't, I thought I'd pop this link in here...

Going Up?

or

Going Down?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the general year 2000 problem, probably the most hair-raising place to start finding out about it is at the website of the "King of Doom and Gloom," Dr. Gary "It's Too Late!" North... I always hestitate to refer people to his site because he's such a rock solid pessimist, but he does have a pretty complete collection of links put together, and when it comes to getting the overall picture - fast - he can't be beat... But if you look at his stuff, be sure to bear in mind he's painting the worst possible picture...

Gary North's site

To see what the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C.'s putting on it's y2k web site, check their links by

clicking here

Where exactly more year 2000 elevator information is located, I don't know. Watch for things about "embedded systems" (microcontrollers), and I suppose checking in with the elevator companies.

And hey... Keep up the good work! I can tell you're doing it because I've never gotten stuck in one yet...



-- Bill Dale (billdale@lakesnet.net), February 18, 1998

Answers

The year 2000 problem will not affect elevators since their operation is not dependent on time. This is the same case for automobiles or any other intelligent device. They can operate regardless what time their internal clock says. This however is a problem for many financial institutions which use dates to calculate payments etc. Many years ago hard disk space was tremendously expensive so programmers only used the last 2 digits of the year to save space in their programs. Now that year 2000 is rolling around these #'s will not work properly. try subtracting 2000-1958, which would yield 00-58 (an error). Also many COBOL programmers of yesteryear set an expiration date in their programs ( a convention of the time). This date was usually set to the last day of 99. This is where the true year 2000 problem lies. That and mass hysteria by the public when they rush to the ATMs to get their money before 2000.

-- Jack V (Jackalexis@aol.com), March 29, 1998.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ