Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.3497
EAN num: 9780130205193
ISBN number: 0130205192
Label: Prentice Hall
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 672
Printing Date: January 29, 1999
Publishing house: Prentice Hall
Sale Popularity Level: 1904276
Studio: Prentice Hall
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Time Bomb 2000 has become a world-wide bestseller because it doesn't just tell you that there's a Y2K crisis on the way: it spells out how to evaluate your personal risks -- and what you can do about them. As the crunch draws closer, this new edition -- completely updated to reflect Y2K news in every key area of the economy -- is essential reading for everyone who wants to survive Y2K! As under 140,000 readers can already attest, Time Bomb 2000 is the most practical guide to the Y2K crisis. Based on the newest information available, you'll learn what problems are likely to occur, how they will impact individuals and society, and what you can do to prepare. This edition contains updated coverage of every major aspect of society, including communications, power distribution, transportation, finance, travel, medicine, social services, education and employment. You'll find the latest expert assessments of the relative probabilities -- and consequences -- of failure. Best of all, the book presents practical contingency plans and fallback positions in the event the worst happens. Anyone worried about the Y2K problem -- in other words, just about everyone.
Amazon.com Review:
Unlike many Y2K books available, Time Bomb 2000 offers a programmer's point of view on the issue--Edward Yourdon is a software engineer and the author of the well-regarded Yourdon Computing Series for software development. (His coauthor, Jennifer, is his daughter.)
While the Yourdons occasionally use Internet-based Y2K slang, such as TEOTWAWKI (which, for the uninitiated, means 'the end of the world as we know it'), it's not likely that they'll be carving out space in a hillside somewhere. They do project a life very different from the one that currently exists, but advocate a commonsense approach to the impending crisis.
To that end, Time Bomb 2000 provides a chapter on each of the areas of infrastructure weakness: public utilities, transportation (automobiles included), banking and finance, news channels, hospitals, telephone and mail services, the U.S. government (social security, food stamps, the IRS, the Defense Department, and a brief overview of state and local agencies). A small portion of the book deals with the question of international economies. Each segment ends with advice on any one of four scenarios: facing a 2-day, 1-month, 1-year, or 10-year failure of each of the given systems. An informative look at what may well be a central issue for us all, Time Bomb 2000 provides important information without trying to answer the unanswerable. --Jennifer Buckendorff
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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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 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 subsequent 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.
Rated by buyers 
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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 batchelour degree - nearly 20 years ago now. After this book, I have to admit that I'll have a big bag of salt subsequent 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.
Rated by buyers 
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Credit to Ed Yourdon for inventing a new literary niche --pointing out a nonexistent crisis, writing a book about it, then writing another book debunking it! He hasn't, at the time of this review, written a book celebrating victory over the fearmongering that he helped to spark, but I'm certain it will be forthcoming.
Yourdon's last shred of credibility evaporated on 01/01/00. Hopefully he made enough off this book to retire. If he didn't, he's going to need to find a new line of work.
Rated by buyers -
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 !
Rated by buyers -
This book isn't worth the paper it's printed on. There isn't a choice for no stars. If there were, I'd give it that.
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