Y2K Magazine Has Printed Last Issue

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Sunday December 26 2:43 PM ET Y2K Magazine Has Printed Last Issue By DUNCAN MANSFIELD Associated Press Writer

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Come technological apocalypse or inconvenient anticlimax, publisher and commentator Tim Wilson is ready for the Year 2000 computer bug frenzy to just be over.

Since Wilson created Y2K News Magazine in July 1998 to report on the millennium bug, he has been at the center of the media and corporate tumult surrounding the glitch that could affect computers that use only two digits to specify the year. Possibly interpreting 2000 as 1900, computer chips in bank machines, payroll systems or power grids, for example, could malfunction.

But Y2K News won't be reporting on what happens. Its final issue came out Dec. 1.

The twice-monthly magazine chronicled what Wilson considers corporate denial and lack of government oversight of Y2K. And while it was never profitable, it led to a popular Internet site, daily talk radio show and videotapes. Wilson became the ``go-to guy,'' he said, an overnight celebrity in an arcane field.

``All of a sudden the news media started calling us. USA Today was calling us once a week for quotes. We started doing town meetings. CNN shot one of our deals,'' Wilson said.

But the 16-hour days, half-dozen daily interviews, travel and deadlines took their toll. On March 31, after an appearance in Phoenix, the 41-year-old had a heart attack.

``That was the day the government was supposed to be ready for Y2K. That was their drop-dead deadline date,'' he said.

With the money-losing venture cutting into his otherwise profitable trade magazines for parks, resorts and golf course industries, and since he had only promised 36 issues, it was time to fold the publication.

The cover of the last issue shows a sun setting over the ocean and features final opinions from the magazine's writers about what Y2K could portend.

In his final article, he paraphrased the sign-off from his radio show: ``Here we go into the new millennium ... with fingers crossed, toes curled, and cheeks tight. ... We'll see you on the other side.''

The magazine never tried to scare readers, only suggest ways they might get ready in case the lights really do go out in 2000.

``If we do end up with a problem, it is going to end up with people not understanding what's going on, panicking or getting crazy about it,'' Wilson said in a recent interview,

A civil engineer by training, Wilson had a good working knowledge of computers when colleagues at the American Resort Developers Association asked him to talk about the Year 2000 transition at their spring 1998 convention.

He spent three months preparing. ``The more I read, the more I started to say, 'This is not a little problem.'''

Wilson started thinking about all the places where you could find an embedded microchip that regulates something tied to time - from electric plants to traffic lights to heart pumps.

The magazine's third issue, a preparedness guide called ``Y2K CPR,'' did spectacularly well with more than 1 million copies snapped up by church groups and along the Y2K lecture circuit.

But the magazine's regular circulation never got much above 6,000 subscribers, and Wilson figured he would need 10,000 to break even.

Advertising, too, was limited mostly to companies selling survival products - electric generators, food staples and water purifiers.

Wilson, who is refunding about 200 subscribers that paid him for more issues than he will make, while writing off another 200 subscribers who never paid a dime, didn't begin Y2K News with the idea of making a profit.

``The real reason for the magazine? I saw it as community service,'' he said.

And the results?

``The consensus is that we've worked on this every day for two years and still don't know what's going to happen,'' said Randy Guidry, a writer and former managing editor for the magazine.

Wilson said he does think most utilities.......

snip

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991226/tc/y2k_magazine_1.html

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 26, 1999

Answers

We will remember them all not as I told you soers but as leaders who felt the need to keep us informed and not depend on the liberal media to do so. Who can say how many lives were spared or how many got the message but if just one then it doesnt matter how much money was made or how successful the magazine was. Only that some things are just worth more than money that might be a novel idea what ya think?

-- Susan Barrett (sue59@bellsouth.net), December 26, 1999.

Wilson said he does think most utilities are Y2K compliant. He advises people to keep their money in the bank and two week's worth of groceries on hand.

-- CD (not@here.com), December 26, 1999.

Loon..

Why did you not include the whole article at the end? Doing a little 'spinning' are we?

CD..

Thanks for letting us see the whole thing! Looks like Tim Wilson is more rational then the 'doomers' would like.

-- Look (at@the.facts), December 26, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ