But the counterpoint to your argument is that there were lots of countries and companies that were being derided as not being Y2K-ready and nothing much happene

But the counterpoint to your argument is that there were lots of countries and companies that were being derided as not being Y2K-ready and nothing much happened to them as well. It's very hard to say that Y2K preparedness work was unnecessary but it is not clear that a lot of it was justified.