Many applications have time calculations that do not involve the year. There are many ways to implement time storage and calculations on a computer. These methods generally use less memory than Y2K-sensitive methods and are usually employed in systems that do not require a human user to enter or see a date. Most embedded systems are in this category. The failure of the system must be significant.
Many camcorders keep track of the year.
In the year 2000, many will record 1900 on the tapes they make. Y2K failures will not be confined to the first week of January 2000. As they occurred, they were corrected, with minimal, if any, inconvenience to the public at large. More of these problems will be discovered and corrected in 1999 as major corporations, governments, and governmental agencies switch over to their fiscal year 2000. This is not to say that institutions are just waiting for the bugs to appear.