After going through this for a few years now, all I can say, is, you are correct. 2001 (just like the title of the book/movie) is the new millennium. But unfortunatly the actual date is nothing more than a counting system. It has been revised, changed, and even had months added, along with changing dates along the way to compensate for innacurate alignment with the seasons.

Other than the Y2K computer problem, the year is not anything more than a marker for keeping track.