I don't know how big of a deal is being made about 2.038K on a corporate management level, but it would seem that the ensuing months would be just about a perfect time to address this issue. After all, many companies have teams for the date-field issue right now, and we've gotten pretty good in the past couple of years at analyzing this problem. It would only make sense to immediately move on to the 2038 work after Y2K settles down. Let's just not wait until 2035 to deal with it this time, huh?
After Y2K settles down, the most likely next bandwagon will be so-called critical infrastructure or Cyber-assurance. If you look behind the curtain, you will find many of the people involved in the Y2K hype are actually from the the critical infrastructure programs which got side-lined this year due to Y2K. I expect when they return to their "regular" jobs, they will want to keep the extra money they got this year for Y2K as part of their regular budget next year. I'm hoping the "hackers" will party and get drunk over New Year's, and leave the so-called critical infrastructure alone. If you think you filled out a lot of paperwork for Y2K, and you ain't seen anything yet. I for one sleep much better knowing Microsoft NT is certified C2 ready :-)