? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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Y2K panic is proof that mass panic isn’t always a product of social media. Most people over 30 will remember how ringing in the new millennium was expected to bring the world economy to a grinding halt because of a computer glitch. Time Bomb Y2K will make you relive the years and days leading up to the year 2000 through expertly edited archival footage that documented this maybe-almost-catastrophe.

People were preparing for the end of all civilization. It wasn’t that the computer glitch that would’ve stopped digital systems from registering the year 2000 wasn’t a real concern — it was the anticipation of the complete breakdown of society and the fearmongering that followed, some all too familiar. Gun sales skyrocketed, grocery store shelves were emptied, and militias were mobilized.

The bug wasn’t a bug — it was a coding error. Most people believed that the Y2K hysteria was unwarranted after the year 2000 rolled over and nothing happened, but the truth is nothing happened because engineers worked night and day to prevent the very thing people were concerned about.

Time Bomb Y2K is uncomfortably timely. Much of what the documentary discusses connects directly to the present, and we were left wondering what happened to many of the figures who appeared in the footage. That is perhaps the documentary’s only blind spot.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can relive the panic with Time Bomb Y2K on OSN+ or watch the trailer here (watch runtime: 1:43).

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