I was browsing at our local Barnes & Noble store when my eyes picked up Y2K on a magazine cover. "Ahh, Vanity Fair, chick mag, probably worthless article", says my sexist brain. "Oh well, beautiful babe covered (barely) in fur. Lets take a look inside. Should be fun for giggles."

I read the article and was astounded! Here was the best written, most cogent history of Y2K I have read anywhere! A very complete history, good quotes from the major players, not a hint of "look at the nutcases running for the hills". And it clearly had an urgent tone. Unfortunately, its not available online, but do yourself a favor, get this issue and give it to your DGI spouse/friend/lover/enemy/boss etc.

I suspect the author of this article started to research the issue and suddenly GOT IT! The "chick mag" gods have got to be ROFLTAO.

-- RD. ->H (drherr@erols.com), December 10, 1998

Answers

Almost everyone in the Y2K community was interviewed for this article, and most everyone (though not me) was quoted in one form or another. The reporter who wrote the story was very serious, very down-to-earth, and very determined to get the "real story". I spent a good hour or two on the phone with him, as did most of my colleagues; we were all very impressed with him, as compared to the usual brainless twits who write the superficial articles.

Vanity Fair has a well-deserved reputation for exploring one or two topics in depth within each issue; the Y2k article is representative of their approach and quality, IMHO. What's significant about it, of course, is that it will reach an audience that has ignored, or blown off, the Y2K story up until now. I don't want to characterize the readers of Vanity Fair in any particular fashion, but suffice it to say that it's probably a different audience than the readers of Business Week or IEEE Software.

This is one of what will ultimately turn out to be literally dozens of semi-serious, down-to-earth articles appearing in respectable journals and magazines and newspapers during the month of December and January. Even the December issue of "Reader's Digest" carries a respectable article, not to mention Newsweek, Business Week, and a special insert in the Dec 2nd issue of the London Financial Times.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), December 10, 1998.

Thanks for the scoop on the magazine, RD! If it sells out soon that might be a measure of how many are reading this forum????

-- nursey (leckels@msn.com), December 10, 1998.

RD: LOL. Good heads-up. Will tell my sister-in-law who is a Forget It - maybe this will be her 'trigger event' and she will move up the Y2K evolutionary scale to DWGI or GI. Worth a try.

nursey: as far as a measure of how many are reading/posting to the forum... I've been having one heck of a time trying to just get in, and keep getting 'server busy' messages every night for about a week.. including tonight. Change that to NOW. Just clicked submit and got another no can do message...second try...no good...copy the message....third try...no good... what the heck is going on...wait.....................fourth try...

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 10, 1998.

OK... I'm a man who is totally comfortable with my femine side...

why is it I am having problems with this : )

...Mike walks up to the local mag rack shop...looks left...looks right...looks straight and searches until he looks right into the eyes of the model in fur on Vanity Fair...picks up the magizine and rolls it inward while walking briskly to the counter...

"Yes sir, with this be all?" the saleswoman asks as I place the magazine on the counter.

"uh, yes, that will be it." I respond nervously searching for my wallet as I again find myself glancing around.

"Hummm, I love this fur on the cover. What do you think? Do you like it?" she says with a smile as she works to build customer relations.

"uh, I, uh...I only buy it for the articles." I say quickly as I dump a $20 on the counter and walk away without even knowing what I just did.

ok, so I'm kidding. I'll be out tomorrow looking for a copy of Vanity Fair that I will place on prominent display this weekend as my wife and I host a Holiday Party. Perhaps somewhere in the guest list I will initiate one of those DGI's or completely unaware persons and the cost of a Vanity Fair will become priceless.

Mike ==========================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), December 10, 1998.

Ed Yourdon,

Thanks for that post!

Y2K is going mainstream now.

Wow! Here goes folks!

-- Buddy (DC) (buddy@bellatlantic.net), December 10, 1998.

In kayaking or other forms of river rafting, as youre getting ready to head into white water rapids, you watch the water patterns carefully. The river will literally V aiming you at the greatest point of flow. To shoot the rapids successfully, and hit the calm waters on the other side, you stick with the mainstream, and enjoy the bumpy ride.

Thanks, Ed.

Diane, former California river runner

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 11, 1998.

Thank you for the tip. I suscribe to Vanity Fair precisely because it is NOT a dumb "chick mag." But I can see how it might appear that way to the casual glance!

-- Ben Dair (not@aol.com), December 11, 1998.

Speaking of hitting mainstream. I just spent the last hour debating Y2K with a total group of strangers in a fast food restaurant. We had almost the whole place listening before it was over. The person that started the whole thing was a Sprint telephone employee who stated that they would be completely ready by Dec. 31, 1998. When I asked how she knew this, she told me it was because that was the directive that came down. They had no choice but to do it. When I started the standard set of questions, she replied she herself knew they were close now because she was a tester and they were finished. By the way, did I mention the fact that she works in the billing department and had no idea how the "rest" of the company was doing.

-- Greg Sugg (gregsugg@bbnp.com), December 11, 1998.

Greg, might I suggest you go down to the post I put in re: sprint and there billing problems. May I suggest she is a TOTAL LIAR? I have my bills to prove it and spoke with several at the Sprint office, they are having Major problems right now. They have lost this months bill of mine AGAIN. They admitted to me that y2k tests are really giving problems with billing and updating the auto call center in which you can access how much usage you have. Imagine that?

-- consumer (private@aol.com), December 11, 1998.

Sprint would not lie.(grin) Gee, my charge card company told me this morning that they were having trouble getting out new cards because of a plastic shortage. Been waiting 6 weeks. I really wanted to pick that woman's brain about Y2K but I'm getting too paranoid about Big Brother. Ain't that a shaaaaaaa aaaaame?

-- Card User (carduser@charger.com), December 11, 1998.

Speaking as a journalist, and as someone who's read his stuff for years, I can say that Robert Sam Anson (the author of the VF piece) is an outstanding writer and journalist. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this piece and have already learned things I didn't know... and I edit a y2k site for a living!

scott

-- Scott Johnson (scojo@yahoo.com), December 11, 1998.