The Big Glitch: What's Been Impacted And What Won't Be

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If you tried to watch Sky News this morning or worse, saw the blue screen of death on your computer and had no idea what was going on, you’re not alone. The Big Glitch (AKA the Microsoft outage) has caused a lot of stress from people simply trying to read their emails to those catching flights. Heck, even our mailer is late! But not everything has to be impacted:

Global (19 July 2024) — If you’ve tried to watch Sky News today and noticed that things were, well, different, what with newsreaders reading without their banners and broadcast interruptions, you’re probably wondering what the heck is going on right now. Did an intern run rouge? Is Dr Doofenshmirtz up to his old tricks? Or is there a much bigger concern at bay? The short story is that there appears to be a big glitch with Microsoft impacting everything from banks to planes and even the Good Things Guy mailer. The good story is that there are lots of things that won’t be impacted because, contrary to popular belief, the world can go on when big tech companies go down.

First, What is the Big Glitch?

The worldwide Windows glitch or the major Microsoft outage started this morning, with many windows machines going blue with an error message, AKA the Blue Screen of Death. According to Euronews, Microsoft 365 said they were investigating the situation, but things went from blue to worse very quickly.

According to the Independent:

“The issue appears to relate to a problem update from cyber security company CrowdStrike. Its representatives say that it has been rolled back—but that will not fix those computers that have already been affected.”

Microsoft 365 users have been unable to access various apps and services while banks, including Capitec, and airlines like Delta and United have also experienced issues, causing many flights to be cancelled and grounded.

So What Now?

It’s easy to get into a panicked state when so much of our lives exist on a screen or rely on a third party IT company. While many businesses using Microsoft systems will undoubtedly hear a lot of grunts from highly frustrated employees and communities may feel locked out of important parts of their daily routines, the important thing to remember is that not everything will be impacted, and not everything has to be.

Our lives exist in spheres of control. The bad news is, many things are out of our hands. The good news is, many things are out of our hands.

When worldwide headaches like the Big Glitch happen, it’s tempting to try to reel what’s out of our control into our grasp. But the wise person knows that this isn’t always the route to take.

With that being said, here’s what doesn’t need to be impacted by the Big Glitch:

How you respond to the outage
Finding creative ways to complete tasks you usually rely on your laptop for (even the news readers read from their paper notes!)
Your mental sanctitude (big tech companies don’t run your brain!)
Your fitness (Microsoft doesn’t control the jog you take every day)

We’re South Africa, for goodness sake! We’ve lived without water and electricity, and this is far from our first rodeo.

Remember in 2021 when there was that big social media blackout, and no one could WhatsApp their friends to tell them about it? We all sat without access to many of our favourite platforms and pretended like it was the year 2000 again. For this writer who grew up with social media, that blackout was actually a memorable experience in the best way. I got to really sit with myself, do some introspection and think about what life could be like without the online world.

If you can, let the glitch lead you to your own inner world. Allow the chaos outside to channel peace inside. And if anything, let this be your sign that even the richest companies with the most power make mistakes.