So, today is the big day. Daylight Savings begins a couple of weeks earlier than normal, and all our computers are going to come crashing down….
…or not.
As I glance at this laptop I see that it reads the correct time, and I haven’t done a thing to it apart from the regular Windows updates. I had our engineers apply patches to our main servers at work, but I wasn’t too worried there, either.
Consider this. The state of Arizona NEVER goes on Daylight Savings time. They’ve got too much blasted sunlight to begin with, and with 110 degree temps in the summer, really don’t need to save much more daylight. I’ve never heard of major information technology crises taking place in that state. I have never heard of Windows, Mac, or any other software vendor issuing a patch specifically for the state. I really don’t think it’s going to be a problem.
Comparisons have been made to the Y2K scare. This has never hit that frenzy, but there will always be some to try and capitalize on fear, and if they can fan those flames further they can capitalize on others. Back in 1999 I had a company offer to diagnose potential problems with our system for a mere $100,000. Mind you, that’s diagnose, not fix. I told them we would be quite fine without their services, thank you very much.
There are others that point to any anomaly and potential glitch as some Bible-foretold doomsday. One church I attended was full of these types (a major reason I left), and they seemed to thrive on conspiracy theories. They seemed happiest when someone was threatening their religious freedoms, whether real or imagined. Somehow, that validated their beliefs. I’ve heard similar doomsday scenarios about this change in Daylight Savings.
The problems is, so far these doomsayers usually wind up with egg on their face. A friend from college produced a video entitled "Y2K: Nuclear Meltdown" talking about the threats during that time. I’m betting he hasn’t sold too many of those lately.
Regardless, I’m appalled when such attention is paid to something trivial such as this, and people do nothing about global warming, energy consumption, and world-wide hunger. I guess those don’t have a specific time-stamp, as well as being politically charged. It’s a shame, because they will have far wider consequences than any Y2K or daylight savings glitch.