You may remember that Sony's PlayStation Network took a powder late last month.
For more than a day, the network and some games relying on it were unplayable on PlayStation 3s sold before last September, when the new slimmer systems debuted. The problem went away, the firestorm of criticism died down and Sony attributed the problem to a software "bug" that tricked system clocks into resetting a decade late.
Nice, but I'm inclined to think the term "bug" is generous to a fault. It suggests the software somehow tripped over its own shoelaces, when in fact software doesn't trip by itself -- if it falls, it's because people did something to push it. And in this case, those who did the pushing probably were inattentive programmers.
The network shutdown resulted when system clocks misinterpreted "March 1" as "Feb. 29," a date not on any calendar this year, and when the clocks couldn't find that date they kicked over to a default setting, Jan. 1, 2000. This is like a Y2K joke only Rip Van Winkle could appreciate.
As everyone lumped into the broad category between Harvard grads and Oprah watchers should know already, Feb. 29 shows up only on calendars for leap years, those quadrennial events that make us think we're getting more bang for our year.
Feb. 29 is in reality like that free cup of coffee you get after being overcharged for the three cups you bought before it.
Sony, in effect, spilled that cup and burned everyone at PSN, maybe burned their reputation a bit as well. Because no matter what excuse Sony offers, the fault lies with the dunderhead(s) who programmed a leap day to appear where none should.
That nobody thought during the code-writing process to consult a cheap calendar, or one that was turned to 2010, or ask someone nearby who might have a clue about when leap days appear -- well, that just makes Sony look almost as clueless as Toyota.
