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by Jonathan Weber

December 24, 1999 (IDG) -- As a technology story, I've always found the Y2K computer bug to be a real yawner. No doubt it's been a major issue for many computer systems administrators, and an expensive diversion for computer-dependent institutions of all stripes. But computers have all kinds of problems all the time, and those same-said institutions have large staff and budgets dedicated to keeping the machines running. I've never understood why we would expect this one problem to remain untended, and thus wreak havoc.

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As a cultural story, though, the Y2K computer bug is fascinating indeed. It's the perfect proxy for our fears about the future, a vivid symbol of how the world we've made has spun out of control. A lot of people with a bit of Luddite in them are hoping the computers will go down. So are followers of millennialist religions. It's truly a story line for the ages: Modern society doomed by it's own too-clever creations! Pack the food and the guns and head for the hills!

The suspense about what might happen when the date clicks over to 01/01/2000 is now oddly bound up with what might happen to the economy. The end of the century, against all odds, has coincided with one of the greatest periods of economic expansion in history. Especially for those at or near the top of the socioeconomic food chain, times could hardly be better. The U.S. economy in particular seems on the brink of proving the "long-boomers" correct: technology, and the business practices that have developed in and around the technology industries, might actually have rendered business cycles obsolete.

Still, most clear-thinking people don't really believe the good times will roll forever. And on the list of events that might trigger a downturn, disruptions associated with Y2K rank right up there with a California earthquake or a sudden fall-off in Web traffic. Possible computer problems aside, there's a feeling that something as seemingly momentous as the start of a new millennium (yes, we know the new millennium doesn't technically begin until 2001, but to focus on that is to miss the point) can't happen without some fittingly momentous events.

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The expectation of drama goes a long way toward assuring that there will be some: If people really expect food shortages, hoarding will create food shortages. And that only underscores the way in which the turn of the century is wholly a product of our collective consciousness. The day and the month and the year are time periods of nature; the century, and the millennium, are just our way of keeping track.

As the big moment approaches, I actually sense less drama around What Might Happen then there was a few months ago – which helps assure that nothing terrible will happen. The Internet Economy boom may or may not continue, but for me at least it's comforting to think that it won't be brought to an end by something as contrived as the turn of the century.

A friend recently expressed surprise that I wouldn't be working New Year's Eve. To be honest, if I thought big things were going to happen, I'd be on the job, and loving it (It's crass to admit it, but journalists love a good disaster). But newswise, I'm expecting a dud. The story of this moment in history is the one that's being written every day, and on New Year's Eve, I'll be having a party. I hope you will too.