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The Y2K Bug Total Non-Event: 25 Years On, What Was That All About?

Back in 1999, the world feared that the new millennium would bring down computers, airplanes, banks and coffee machines, but the IT dudes saved us all

But if, whether via your own hazy recollections or things you’ve picked up on social media, you think the last year of the 20th century was all about Britney Spears taking over the planet, Brad and Jen’s great love and, most of all, the life-altering decision of which glitter eyeshadow to wear on Millennium Eve, you’re forgetting something huge and scary. Back then, we called them IT workers rather than tech bros, they wore short-sleeved plaid shirts rather than Patagonia gilets and their offices didn’t even have ping-pong tables and pizza Fridays. Some people even said it had all been a hoax, refusing to give any credit to all those IT dudes, long-suffering and long-haired, who had fixed the problem so efficiently behind the scenes while we were busy overplucking our eyebrows and learning the words to “No Scrubs.”

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