There are very many opinions expressed about the computer industry on these pages, which whilst interesting are not necessarily backed with authority. It is difficult to tell whether the opinions are garnered from research (on the web etc.) or are from first hand experience.

Would it be possible for those who work in the IT industry, especially programmers to sign off all their postings with a mini CV.

Taking this principle a little further I would like to propose that a forum be to be set up which can act as a running opinion pole / thermometer. The postings should be kept as brief as possible and relatively quantitative. Further those not directly involved with IT (at a senior or programming level) should be encouraged not to take part.

In an ideal world an interactive questionnaire could be constructed on a separate web page to provide live statistical analysis. However in absence of this, you can respond below, to register your view on the outcome of Y2K from where we currently stand, using a scale of 0 to 10.ie.:

0 No real impact 1 Local impact for some enterprises 2 Significant impact for many enterprises 3 Significant market adjustment (20%+ drop); some bankruptcies 4 Economic slowdown; rise in unemployment; isolated social incidents 5 Mild recession; isolated supply/infrastructure problems ; runs on banks 6 Strong recession; local social disruptions; many bankruptcies 7 Political crises; regional supply/infrastructure problems and social disruptions 8 Depression; infrastructure crippled; markets collapse; local martial law 9 Supply/infrastructure collapse; widespread social disruptions and martial law 10 Collapse of government; possible famine *copied with permission of WDCY2K

Questionnaire for those working in the computer industry the outcome of Y2K. Please answer the following questions as briefly as possible.

1. Number of years in computer industry > 2. Employed as (current first) > 3. Seniority > 4. Experience with which systems and software > 5. Within which industries > 6. Blue chip employers> 7. Nationality> 8. On a scale 0 to 10 (see above) what do you think the impact will be on your national economy.> 9. Rate out of 10 the potential of each of the following as causing that outcome. Embedded chips in general> Legacy computer systems> Small & Medium Enterprise desktop computers> Power supply failure> Telecommunications> Transportation> Government services and administration (including taxation)> Finance & Banking> Domino effect from bankruptcy of customers or suppliers> Corruption of systems through electronic data exchange> Public anxiety, (run on banks etc.)> 10. Do you think organisations are disclosing preparedness accurately?

-- Patrick Coghill (patrick.coghill@virgin.net), June 23, 1998

Answers

Apologies that it is difficult to read the line returns seems not have been transferred.

-- Patrick Coghill (patrick.coghill@virgin.net), June 23, 1998.

1. Number of years in computer industry 15 Years. 2. Employed as Senior Systems Programmer, Interphase Corp. I write Drivers for ATM PCI Boards on Windows NT. 3. Seniority Yes. (sorry, I had to do that!) Senior. 4. Experience with which systems and software. See resume: http://205.241.57.131/sloy 5. Within which industries Systems Software (NOS (NetWare), Database Kernels. 6. Blue chip employers I've worked for several 'Cow-chip' employers, but I refuse to work for 'Blue chimps'. 7. Nationality American 8. On a scale 0 to 10 (see above) what do you think the impact will be on your national economy. It's impact will be at least a 2, but could go to 10. I like the way one guy said it: 'On y2k...computers will fail in wild and mysterious ways we could never have dreamed of" > 9. Rate out of 10 the potential of each of the following as causing that outcome. Embedded chips in general> 10 Legacy computer systems> 10 Small & Medium Enterprise desktop computers> 1 Power supply failure> 8 Telecommunications> 8 Transportation>5 Government services and administration (including taxation)> 10 Finance & Banking> 8 Domino effect from bankruptcy of customers or suppliers>8 Corruption of systems through electronic data exchange>10 Public anxiety, (run on banks etc.)10> 10. Do you think organisations are disclosing preparedness accurately? No

-- Sam Loy (sloy@iphase.com), June 24, 1998.

Re: experience: (If you want to see my resume, check my website but, to be brief, I have been in the profession for voer 27 years and have done everything from missile guidance systems to yearbook publishing to hospital systems to wine and liquor wholesaling systems (all of which I are areas that are subject to the "Y2K Bug")

How would I rate the outcome of Y2K from where we currently stand, using a scale of 0 to 10?

1. Number of years in computer industry:over 28 2. Employed as (current first): Contractor (working Y2K!) 3. Seniority: what does that mean, I've got more like 27 years' experience than 1 year's experience 27 times 4. Experience with which systems and software: Mainframe (IBM, Amdahl, Univac, ICL), minis (GTE, Varian, HP, among others, and micros (startin with F8's and 4004's) 5. Within which industries: Hospital, R&D Real-time, financial, publishing, manufacturing, hospitality to name a few ( does the phrase "been there, done that" mean anything to you? 6. Blue chip employers: Probably the "Blue-est Chip" was ICL USA (a wholey owned subsidiery of International Computers, Ltd, of England> 7. Nationality: US> 8. On a scale 0 to 10 (see above) what do you think the impact will be on your national economy? After having observed the situation in Memphis, TN, and a few other cities, I'd put it between a 7 and a 10. Think about it for a minute, if the Welfare and Social Security checks don't arrive, there are going to be some hostile people out there and they'll be more hostile than the people were in Los Angeles when _those_ people rioted!

9. Rate out of 10 the potential of each of the following as causing that outcome. Embedded chips in general: 10 - lose a chunk of the lectrical production and lose the grid, lose the grid and you lose heat, access to gasoline, transportation and hospital equipment! Legacy computer systems: 8> Small & Medium Enterprise desktop computers: 5 Power supply failure: 10 Telecommunications: 8 Transportation: 8 Government services and administration (including taxation)> 10 Finance & Banking: 10 Domino effect from bankruptcy of customers or suppliers>8 Corruption of systems through electronic data exchange> 8 Public anxiety, (run on banks etc.)> 8 10. Do you think organisations are disclosing preparedness accurately? You have GOT to be kidding! The filtration of infromation on the way up is always to a more optomistic view, therefore, the higher you go in the chain of command, the less realistic the view gets. On top of that, if one expects to get out of the theater alive, one waits until one is right _at_ the door before pointing out that one smells a lot of smoke and there is an interesting glow coming from near the walls much less yelling "Fire!" Perhaps I am overly pessimistic, but I have seen too many instances of "Rose Glasses Manufacturing" at work! I have positioned myself to improve my survival coefficient and will continue to do so.

-- Ralph D. Wilson II, C.D.P. (rwilson@thewizardsguild.com), June 29, 1998.