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Rating: 
Summary: The best Y2K book available!
Review: Anybody who is concerned with the Y2K problem and want to know more about it in greater detail should read this book. It should answer if not all at least most of your Y2K questions. I like the way Edward Yourdan gives time solutions at the end of each chapter. The solutions is 2 day, 1 month, 1 year, and 1 decade. This makes it easier to understand the potential impact the Y2K problem may have on different aspects of sociey. It talks about the seriousness of preparing for this problem because after all nobody knows how severe it will be but there will be a Y2K problem Jan 1, 2000 rather it's minor or major. The last thing I like about the book is that it is broken up into an easy to understand format coming from a computer expert and it talks about all things in society that may be affected.
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Summary: The problems are already here, the solutions are far away...
Review: Enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of hearing Yourdon's comments the other day on a radio show. I have already gotten his book(s), and have been actively using them in my Master's project on software testing and debugging.The Y2K crunch is already here: couple of examples to wet your appetite and warn about both the simple and the extreme type of problems that will happen: 1) Simple problem. The Cobb county library issued library cards due to expire in Jan and Feb 2000. They could not be read in by the current computer program, so the users could not check out books now (July August 1998). Quick Solution: reissue about 10,000 cards with an expiration date of Dec-31-1999. Long term solution (that they are trying to implement) replace the entire library system to a new program that will run past 1999. And then convert all of the old library cards and book files from the old to the new system, and reissue all of the 800,000 plus library now issued. 2)Typical complicated problem: one of the callers to Yourdon said he had a natural gas heater -> so he didn't have to worry about heating his house. One point: maybe the gas will flow, maybe it won't. Can't tell because PG&E (the caller's gas utility) needs pumps, valves, regulators, meters, safety switches, pumping stations, power, control, and feedback (through phones lines, satellites, and the power grid) to safely distribute the flammable, pressurized natural gas through the pipeline network to his house. Without safety (electronic control and feedback) you can't pressurize a natural gas system without blowing up whole sections of the city. So don't count on natural gas too far. Water may flow, since it won't blow up and is needed for fire fighting (oops, another interface across systems) ... but it too needs power for pumping, regulation, control, and distribution. Also, at my house, my heater is natural gas. But if the power goes out, the fan (blower) can't turn, and so the heater controls cuts off the burner automatically to prevent a potential fire (overheating of the system) with no air flow. So...no electricity, no fan, no burner, no ability to burn the natural gas, no heater .. even if the gas is available in the pipeline. I'm buying a portable generator (get an advertiser for one) and stoking up on firewood. Yourdon contains many other equally vital systemic level analysis and comments. Need a lantern, or temporay generator, portable radios, water, etc? He answers these concerns too with a series of best-case to worst case scenarios. Robert Cook, P.E. CSA, Atlanta
Rating: 
Summary: What a joke.
Review: Even thought "Y2K" has proven to be a less than catastrophic event, Ed and Jennifer Yourdon presented a logical, rational, common sense approach to the potential problems that may arise. This book helped me estimate the potential risks to my family, and to prepare for Y2K in a reasonable way. This feeling of preparation reduced my stress level. This book spoke of possibilities, not certainties. I am sure Ed and Jennifer are as relieved as we all are that the dire potential problems have not (yet) ocurred.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Mr. and Ms. Yourdon!
Review: I am grateful to these authors for this informative, factual, helpful book. I have been reading about the Y2K problem for the past 2 years and am convinced that there will be problems....maybe a lot, maybe not, but at least they have given us all the possible scenarios. All of the the "one-star"/"two-star" reviews seem to be from those who cannot back up what they say and/or have nowhere near the experience both of these authors have. Also, I question their motives....are they banks afraid they might lose customers or profits because they haven't done what they were supposed to have done about the problem or won't be ready on time? Check with your bank....and don't just take the word of a teller or even a bank manager....get something in writing. These are the REAL doomsdayers, ignoring facts, what the experts have to say, and not preparing. Please do not listen to them! Read! Check out the references in the book! Good luck to all of us, but especially these doomsdayers....they're going to need it the most!
Rating: 
Summary: Was helpful as Y2K insurance
Review: I bought a copy of this book back in mid-1998, after hearing of concerns about the Y2K problem. I thought it made interesting, albeit scary, reading. My family and I all thought that it was prudent to prepare for Y2K for the same reason that we have insurance; in other words, we hoped that little or nothing would go wrong, but had peace of mind in being prepared in case of glitches. Some things that were suggested seemed a bit overboard, even before Y2K (for example, preparing for a full year of disruptions), but still, given what we knew at the time, preparing for some disruptions seemed prudent. Of course, my family and I were pleasantly surprised that Y2K disruptions turned out to be practically non-existent. But still we have no regrets for having prepared, just as we don't regret having insurance, even if nothing happens. Also, other events, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, should make it clear that it is wise to be prepared for emergencies.
Other reviewers who were upset with the Yourdons should realize that Y2K was, indeed, a potentially serious problem. There was no way anyone could know in advance, whether anything would happen. We should be thankful to the programmers who worked hard to fix the problem, thus averting a crisis that might have been.
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Summary: How To Be Prepared
Review: It is obvious (in hindsight) that nothing much happened on 1/1/2000. Whether it was a result of the problem being overblown or a testament to the incredible amount of work and money spent fixing it is a matter for speculation, though I tend towards the latter explanation.
So why am I still going giving this book 4 stars?
This book still holds good advice as to how to be prepared for ANY sort of break down in the infrastructure of our highly specialized society. I believe that there is a non-zero chance of something like this happening in the next decade due to large internal attacks by the enemies of this country.
The book looks at these areas: Jobs, Utilities, Transportation, Banking/Finance, Stock Market, Food, your home PC, News/Information, Health/Medicine, Government, Embedded Systems, Telephone/Mail.
Then it tells you, for each of the topics listed above, what you would have to do to be prepared for shutdowns in these systems for the following time periods: 2 days, 1 month, 1 year, and 10 years.
So despite the fact that Y2K wasn't even a blip on the radar for most of us, this book is still an interesting read and tells you what you need to know to cover yourself from a infrastructure failure of whatever length may seem reasonable to you.
Rating:
Summary: I want a refund.
Review: My grandfather always told me to never believe everything you hear....and this proves that fact.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading for everyone!
Review: This book by the leading thinker in the computer industry is the one to read after you finish reading Meltdown 2000. Though Yourdon is a leading figure in the computer industry, this book is for ordinary mortals. It covers the subject thoroughly with a balanced presentation based on over 20 years of industry experience. The book will make you think, and some of it may scare you a bit. Focusing on risk analysis of things that affect your everyday life, the book is full of practical advice for everyone from young parents to grandparents on Medicare. I made this book required reading at my company and bought copies all around. We talk about it whenever the conversation turns to Y2K and we put a copy on the table when we speak about the subject in public. We encourage everyone who wants to be well prepared to prosper and live comfortably after 1999 to buy and read this book.
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Summary: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice. . .
Review: This book is a sheer waste of ink and paper. I'll never again buy a book by Ed Yourdon, I loose all my confidence on his technical expertise. What a shame !
Rating:
Summary: Was helpful as Y2K insurance
Review: Well written, well organised, but in hindsight - not so well researched. Okay. The Yourdons weren't the only ones caught up in the hype. Many others I had a lot of respect for were caught up as well. For example Robert Theobald, the futurist. I have known the works of Edward Yourdon since I started my batchelor degree - nearly 20 years ago now. After this book, I have to admit that I'll have a big bag of salt next to me when relying on Mr Yourdon's predictions. Hey, at least I did not bunker down and invest in a huge amount of instant food and an arsenal of firearms. But maybe that would have been too American.
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