[G-Pitts]

What did you think about this.
I think 33 years from now all of us will be using 128 or 256 bit architecture anyway so this problem can be ignore. Beside that we still have 33 years to fix this problem so there still a lot of time left.

 

[Syed Fawad]

33 years is a LOT to find a solution for such a problem. I won't worry till we have reached 2037 without a solution.

IN fact it can also be cool that every single PC stops working in the world...........man, that'd be cool

 

[__Xzyx987X]

Hmm... I set my system date to the year 2038 to see what would happen. It was actually kinda weird. My system became slow and unresponsive, and all my explorer windows closed for no reason. Once I got it back to 2005 though, everything was fine. It appears my PC is not y2k38 complient .

 

[Talbain]

If I'm not mistaken... that's only for 32 integer clocks... when the move to 64 bit becomes more solid, this problem will be remedied by itself. Unless I'm wrong. I know jack **** about programming.

 

[__Xzyx987X]

No that won't solve it, because the majority of apps out there now are linked with the 32bit time function libraries. That means every program which makes use of the C time libraries will have to be fixed individually.

 

[Bobbi]

This certainly *will* be a big issue ... if you say that we have enough time to fix that, remember the "2k panic" (or how you want to call that?) ... they knew about that back when they defined this whole PC stuff (1956?) but didn't fix it until close.

Now Unix timestamp is something different ... financial institutions, insurances - all these are using *very* old software and will run into some kind of issue. Let's see if they act earlier this time though

 

[Lentoman]

First we have to get past 2012, which some people seem to believe is the end of the world.
http://www.google.se/search?q=2012+the+end+of+the+world&btnG=Sök&meta=

 

[Boltzmann]

Oh, we have a lot of time. 30 years from now, computer programming will be an obsolete knowledge, except for hobbyists and we'll have nanocomputers at every home, and quantum supercomputers exploring the limits of our knowledge.

Really, I think that a major change is coming, or as the economist Robin Hanson puts it "it's The Next Really Big Enormous Thing" (http://www.futurebrief.com/robinhanson.asp) .

I won't be worried unless we reach 2030 and the world is still as it is today.

 

[Talbain]

Well whatever. If it's 2038 and there's some problem, I'll just set my clock back in Windows (assuming it is Windows... I hope it's GoogleOS) 30 years. Problem solved.

Oh yes, and the world's not ending for a couple billion years or so. Till that time comes, people need to spend time on things like creating anti-paranoia medicine.

 

[Mr. Killjoy]

Yeah... it's the latest version of the "Year 2xxx bug", we're doomed, the world will collapse on itself. Or not. Computer technology guys are geniuses, it's easy for them, just a waste of time

 

[Kraelis]

Actually, this has been an issue even before 2000. It's just that non computer people were not aware of it.

The thing is, as has been stated, so much more systems now depend on the 32 bit architecture than ever before. Desktops are pretty much not the issue as is the infrastructure of our modern computing world.

One of the most important things I've learned progressive technologies won't make it simply because they're better. In the end, it's a business aspect that wins. It's excruciatingly difficult to pull out old artifacts and replace with the new, no so much as a portability problem, but a HUMAN problem.

Besides, mainframes are still in use by the way (especially in banks), no matter how much you think they are obsolete.

By that time, it's 64 bit or bust I guess. But I'm pretty sure the world won't keel over because of it.