# Will there be a 9/9/99 problem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 1999, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132 "1999-09-08T18:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/21 "1999-09-09T13:34:00Z")
Well, the 9/9/99 paranoia seems to have been unjustified. There don’t seem to have been any problems anywhere. Now, maybe we can get the Y2k people to relax a little… ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/22 "1999-09-09T13:43:00Z")
Right, tan, the RU#I@REJ concern over the 9/9/99 pro%_&#(_!)#@\*EMNFOW{#@ERHlem seems to have been high#\*DVN@#)HJEW#OIly exaggggggggggggggggggggggggggerated. ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/23 "1999-09-09T14:23:00Z")
I am a programmer, and I definitely do have vague recollections of seeing programs in the 1980’s which had this problem. The systems we worked on were for ordering and shipping merchandise, and one fields would be the date that we were supposed to ship it on. If an order was canceled, never to be shipped, this would be marked by changing the ship date to something special. Usually we used 123199 for this purpose, but I would not be surprised if Sept 9, 99 was used in some programs, because it is easy to type even with slashes. **Some people have suggested that the embedded zeroes make this a no-brainer, but I disagree.** Our systems required the user to enter slashes, so that the computer would not confuse Jan 23 with Dec 3. It them took the slashes out and put zeroes in. 1/23/85 became 012385, 12/3/92 became 120392, and today 9/9/99 is 090999. Some programs look for “9999”, but others look for “090999”, because that’s what is now in the files. ---
**Author:** ![VegForLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@VegForLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegForLife)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/24 "1999-09-09T16:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > VegforLife, you can use 9999 as end-of-file marker, or a max value, in a four digit field. The potential problem never had anything to do with “max values.” > [@](#): > > However, you can’t use it as an EOF or max-value in a date field You wouldn’t put an EOF marker in a “date field.” > [@](#): > > that holds the month, day, and year, because you would need at least 6 digits for the complete date. Sept 9, 1999 would be 090999, or 990909, or whatever, but it would be 6 digits. Which is why this potential problem was never about 9/9/99 as a date, it was about 9999 as an EOF or end-of-processing marker. > [@](#): > > So you can use all 9’s (999999), six of them not four, to your heart’s content as an EOF or max value. And what you _can_ use has no bearing on what may have been used in the _past_, which is what this potential problem has always been about. Anybody hear of anything happening anywhere? The only report I heard this morning said that nobody’s reporting any malfunctions (but most places wouldn’t, would they?). Rich ---
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/25 "1999-09-09T16:05:00Z")
Thanks Keeves, but a program wouldn’t use 9999 in a date field because that’s only four digits. It would have to use 999999 or 090999, which is perfectly fine. Your 123199 example for canceled orders is more of a y2k problem. I hope people don’t take the y2k problem too lightly because of the letdown after all the hype from this 9/9/99 hoax. The y2k problem is real. ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/26 "1999-09-09T16:23:00Z")
Maybe 9999 is a problem for COBOL programmers. I don’t know. I am a BASIC programmer. All I’m saying is that if a program OF ANY KIND has a special meaning for 9/9/99, then it WILL confuse today’s legitimate date with that special meaning, and problems WILL ensue. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/27 "1999-09-10T05:15:00Z")
My computer must have got really screwed up. It changed everything to 6666 instead! * * * Brian O’Neill CMC International Records [rockuniverse.com/cmc/cmc.html](http://rockuniverse.com/cmc/cmc.html) ICQ 35294890 AIM Scrabble1 Yahoo Messenger Brian\_ONeill ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/28 "1999-09-10T00:02:00Z")
Well, it’s 9/9/99. How is everyone. By coincidence, 9/9/99 is also my 10 year anneversary [sp] for my best friend. I told her off… ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/29 "1999-09-10T00:14:00Z")
My husband was on the computer this morning, and expressed some relief that everything seemed to be running smoothly. I said “Well my dear, since you happened to be on the computer last night, until shortly after midnight, don’t you think you would have noticed a problem before you went to bed?” Silly man. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nayaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e68b1a/32.png) [@nayaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nayaran)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/30 "1999-09-10T02:32:00Z")
9/9/99: Almost over, nothing wrong, except I didn’t get a Dreamcast 🙂 Almost completely off-topic 9/9/99 blurb: Our local ABC affiliate (WTVC, channel 9) had a local contest where the winner would receive $999.99 on 9/9/99 at 9:09 PM, from channel 9, provided that they live within 99 miles of Chattanooga. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/31 "1999-09-10T05:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > There don’t seem to have been any problems anywhere. The power – and my computer – went off here on the north side of Berkeley at exactly 12 midnight PDT last night. The power came back on only about one second later. It took me somewhat more time to get my computer up again, but no problem. There was, however, lightning going on at the time, a very rare occurrance in the SF Bay Area. Power was lost at various times at various places around the Bay Area. According to my clock in the morning, the power later went off here for about 45 min. I still don’t believe in Y2K. Ray ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/32 "1999-09-10T05:42:00Z")
At about midnight Central time-- when 9/9 clicked over to 9/10-- there was a power blink in my apartment, which booted my PC. I say “about midnight” because my watch read 12:01, but somehow I expect that it’s running one minute fast. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/33 "1999-09-10T05:54:00Z")
No problems here at all. And it is 9/10. Still in all it is a cool date. But not as cool as 01/23/45 must have been. Or 6/7/89 must’ve been Anyone hear anything about lottery tickets. There was a big bit on the TV about people buying 9999. ---
**Author:** ![VegForLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@VegForLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegForLife)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 1999, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/34 "1999-09-11T05:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I still don’t believe in Y2K So what year do you think it’s going to be after December 31, 1999? Rich ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/35 "1999-09-10T19:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > No problems here at all. And it is 9/10. Still in all it is a cool date. > But not as cool as 01/23/45 must have been. Or 6/7/89 must’ve been I preferred 10/9/87 myself… Next ones to look forward to are 01/01/01 or (European format) 20/01/2001. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132/36 "1999-09-10T19:55:00Z")
\>\>\>9/9/99: Almost over, nothing wrong, except I didn’t get a Dreamcast I did. In doing so (and getting the games I wanted which was a major f#$%ing hassle, had to go to 3 different places) I noticed: The Babbages computer died once. Electronics Boutique (EBX) had their computer died twice. Funcoland had to manually phone in all their credit card and check payments for verification. As I don’t know what program(s) they were runnning, the various OSes, and what type/how old the systems are, I don’t know whether to attribute this to sloppy programming, overworking of outdated computers, or the impending apocalypse [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1575580349/qid=936993182/sr=1-1/002-8117387-0545465](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1575580349/qid=936993182/sr=1-1/002-8117387-0545465) . PS- The Dreamcast rocks. Hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-a-9-9-99-problem/3132.md?page=1)