Special contributor: Y. Checkoff
The oft-discussed Year 2000 -- supposedly spelling disaster for computers and
communications, and possibly for civilization as we know it, because of the
Y2K Problem, the Millennium Bug, et al. -- has come and gone without meeting
the scenario offered by the doomsayers. The situation remained the same even
at the onset of 2001.Some Japanese (those in the publishing industry not being
exceptions, including the “21 [sic!] Century Books” chief with a California
picnic plan readied well in advance of the new century’s arrival) who expected
pandemonium had to eat humble pie when the disasters they had forecast did not
come to pass. Yet, a more insidious problem has been growing in recent months,
at least for businesses and IT professionals (including the Microsoft management
people).
The threat to business operations is seen coming from sites found on the Web,
expounding hostile views like “So-and-so {company, etc.} ‘B’
AWFUL” -- these sites having grown over the past several years due to increased
popularity of the Internet <in Japan, the seriousness of this cyberspace
problem was brought to public awareness thanks to a story in the Nikkei Business
magazine at the end of 1999 >. As it is, there is an “Amazon vs. Everybody”*
mentality around which can compound such problems. Therefore, a closer eye should
be kept on the screen from now on rather than on the calendar.
Not counting Y2K, there is enough fear-mongering going around -- use of genetically
modified organisms, for example [as an aside, some our company’s associates
have been studying this issue since 1999, aiming for publication] -- to negatively
impact commercial activities (and perhaps even lead to lawsuits in case such
allegations are unfounded). A food {and, as reported in the Diamond Weekly magazine
in 1999, even wine} producer or retailer -- some selling their goods online
without necessarily being Net-literate -- can ostensibly be driven out of business
without knowing what malicious falsehoods have been on the spread. It looks
like constant monitoring will henceforth be a necessity for life in the 21st
century; unfortunately, the clock cannot be turned back.
*”Amazon vs. Everybody.” (Katrina Brooker.
Fortune, November 8, 1999 v.140 iss.9 p.120+); transl. [into Japanese], published
in January 2000 issue of President.