The Madness of Y2K is Explored in Trailer For The New HBO Documentary TIME BOMB Y2K
HBO has released the trailer for a documentary titled Time Bomb Y2K, which explores the madness and hysteria surrounding Y2K. The doc is described as being immersive and will include lots of rare archival material, including home video and never-before-seen outtakes, the film features first-hand accounts from computer experts, survivalists, scholars, militia groups, conservative Christians, and pop icons grappling with a world that could descend into chaos.
I remember the panic that Y2K set off and I also knew at the time that it was complete bullcrap. So much panic was being spread for absolutely no reason. President Clinton even invested billions of dollars and appointed a "Y2K Czar" in 1998 to tackle “the problem.” The media caused an uproar leading people to stock up on guns, ammo, and supplies, people were crippled with fear with some moving off the grid entirely because of it.
In the end… nothing happened. But the craziness of the whole thing was off the charts. I remember thinking how freaking nuts people were acting at this time. Humans are freakin’ weird.
The description for the doc reads: "With Y2K now in the rearview mirror and with new technological threats emerging daily, Time Bomb Y2K raises concerns about the digital infrastructure we've created and takes a prophetic and comical look at our dependence on complex systems vulnerable to future glitches. Y2K forced us to consider what would happen if computers worldwide suddenly stopped working. Even worse, what if this failure led to nuclear catastrophe? Against this backdrop, the world rose to the challenge and exhibited unprecedented cooperation to ultimately avert disaster."
It goes on to say: “As the clock counted down to the dawn of the 21st century, the world was bracing for the largest potential technological disaster to ever threaten humanity. The problem is comically simple yet incredibly complex – a bug that could cause computers to misinterpret the year 2000 as 1900, sowing chaos throughout the world as electronic systems failed. Crafted entirely through archival footage, the HBO Documentary Time Bomb Y2K is a prescient and often humorous tale about the power and vulnerabilities of technology. By re-appraising both the cooperative efforts and mass hysteria surrounding this millennial milestone, Time Bomb Y2K explores how modern life has been dramatically transformed by the digital revolution.”
Time Bomb Y2K is directed by Brian Becker and Marley McDonald. HBO will debut Time Bomb Y2K on Max starting December 30th, 2023.