People have been obsessed with an absolute mass expiration date for ages. The first I know of is the infamous 1960s doomsday date, which didn't occur. There was another doomsday date before 2000 as well, and of course the year 2000 was also a doomsday date.
And now we have 2012, after that it will be somewhere in the 2040s (Nostradamus predictions or some stuff).
It's really sad how everyone is so obsessed with the end of humanity. I mean Jesus forget, does everyone absolutely need to know when they're going to die, to a point where they become obsessed with it?
After 2012 humanity will find itself another doomsday to help keep itself occupied. Calling this.