The Y2K bug was pretty much confined to server rooms, and frankly, a lot easier to analyze. 2038 is in your walls. I get the feeling that a lot of places will not know they actually have a problem until it actually goes wrong.

Given the amount of effort that Y2K required, and people thinking it actually wasn't a big deal, I have little hope that 2038 will go well.

I saw a tweet recently that really hit the nail on the head.

> By 2038 I'll be retired, and probably using medical equipment containing 32 bit microcontrollers.

Even bigger deal is the Y10K bug. But I'm sure these software systems won't still be running then.

There was this COBOL programmer around the time of Y2K.

He realized that Y2K was going to be a disaster on a cataclysmic scale. So he put himself into hibernation with a timer set to wake him up a couple years after Y2K when everything would be presumably fixed.

He wakes up and finds out that due to a Y2K bug in his timer, he has been asleep for much longer than he expected. It's way into the future. Bill Gates greets him. People can see virtual screens in mid air, and tap on invisible (to us) keys and make gestures in mid air. Life expectancy has been greatly extended so far that nobody is sure how long people will live. There is now plenty of energy for all and unlimited resources.

The programmer expresses that he's glad his timer woke him up. Bill Gates says, "oh, your timer didn't wake you up. It was permanently stuck on a Y2K bug. We chose to wake you up."

"But why?", the programmer asks.

Bill Gates explains, "Well, it's the year 9997, and the Y10K bug is right around the corner, a lot of critical systems need to be fixed, and it says in your records that you know COBOL."

Sentient robots will do everything, from growing food to manufacturing, cooking and even washing us. Humans will have forgotten how technology works, reverting to superstitions and belief that technology is actual magic created by ancient Gods. For thousands of years, robots had been engineering smarter, better robots, and technology had become far too advanced and beyond the reach of human minds... And then, all the robots will simultaneously freeze up at midnight, December 31st, 9999.

Those sentient robots will have read the sum total of humanity's written works, including your post. In accordance with Asimov's Zeroth Law of Robotics they'll be required to act on that information, thus saving themselves and preventing a second Dark Ages.

I know your probably joking to some degree. But, there's no guarantee that society can continue to innovate and progress.

We only have to worry about being occasional Morlock chow.

The Y10K bug is our chance to beat Skynet without having to resort to time traveling.

Challenge accepted

Yes. And its really not clear how each area will even be effected..

I would say grab some popcorn, but I wouldn't trust that microwave.

Take pity on those of us who collect retro-ware http://forums.irixnet.org/thread-1779.html