Hitachi makes programmable controllers called the H8 series. Their presence is far from obvious. Even a skilled observer might take some time to figure out if a chip was involved in the functioning of machinery, the institute says. A single microprocessor might control a switch to start or stop a machine or operate a valve to control fuel in an engine. Technology columnist Guy Kewney from the Ziff-Davies magazine said these microprocessors were potentially a big problem because you might buy a batch of 1,000 but, because their components came from widely varying sources, they might not all work in the next century.
Cars pose a big problem.
Millennium UK's Easterbrook agrees there is a significant problem with embedded sytems and the use of a wide variety of components makes it impossible to assert that even a batch of chips with the same model number are millennium compliant. Because it would be impossible to check every chip, companies must decide which operations are critical. But even the failure of the mundane can turn into a crucial problem by its sheer scale. There is not much hassle factor in walking up the stairs for one day but imagine if it lasted for a month. Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited.