New Year's Eve, New York City, 1999.

New York City, 1999.

Tipsi Party Gogoers cram into crowded apartments,

while others gather to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

New Year's Eve is always electric,

but tonight's celebrations are laced with a different kind of energy. The coming day signals the dawn of the day. Tonight's

at least with a different kind of energy. The coming day signals the dawn of a new millennium

and along with it, the possibility of a techno-apocalypse.

On New Year's Day, 2000, is it possible that we're in for an international disaster

because so many of the world's computers will be utterly confused by what date it is.

When computers were invented, their internal clocks had just two digits for the year.

Decades of software have apparently been built on the assumption that the 21st century was too distant a concept to contemplate.

Now people around the world are terrified that computers will freeze with the switch to 2000,

crippling financial systems, knocking out power, disrupting communications, triggering airplane crashes in nuclear

meltdowns.

A panicking public prepares for the worst.

All day, store director Rick Smith watched consumers get Y2K ready.

B batteries sell extremely well, the lamp oil, generators, flashlights,

those type of items, anything that the person would probably want to use during a power outage.

Down in Washington, it's one man's job to make sure they don't need any of those.

His name is John Kostkinin and he's President Clinton's Y2K czar.

The president called me one night and said here's an office and an assistant and don't let the world stop.

...