zeronyne Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 DALLAS (June 24) - Bob Bemer, a computer pioneer who helped develop the ASCII coding system and the technology that led to the "escape" key on keyboards, has died at the age of 84 after battling cancer, his caregiver said on Thursday. Bemer died on Tuesday at his home near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, 120 miles west of Dallas. He worked for several years for IBM Corp. in the late 1950s and 1960s, and it was there that he helped develop the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII is a format code used in most computers in the world that allows them to read text as a binary number. Bemer is also credited with writing the computer sequence that allows for the "escape" command. The escape command was seen as a major innovation in computing because it allowed users to move backward or sideways in a program. He won the Computer Pioneer Award in 2002 from the IEEE Computer Society for his work in making it easier for people to move text and images on a computer screen. "Computer power is work power, but it is also knowledge power, of the kind that has been used throughout history for aggrandizement as well as the good of the people," Bemer wrote on his Web site. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeton Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 And this is even on-topic: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040623/040623_bobBermer_vmed_8p.vmedium.jpg Really too bad- i use the ESC key all day long in vi and stuff. At least he was 84, and not some young kid, though. Recently lost a collegue in IRC- a perl developer we all only knew as "Spoon" at the age of 22. Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pseudonym Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 I thought you were talking about that Japanese computer-guy that had that room where you find the key to get-out, he deserves to die That is interesting anyway, I guess someone has to invent things, or we'd all be living in caves and beating women over the head to get sex so we can evolve, seems like a good enough excuse to me WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 If only he could have escaped mortality. But alas, no. I'm going to use his key in his honor today. - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 I think the guy who created the "control-Alt - delete" combination died recently. Yum, Yum! Eat em up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 It would seem Bermer finally used his invention. So many of these things we take for granted, not ever really recognizing that an individual was at the genesis of it; you just sort of assume the ESC key, as if it developed on its own with the advancement of technology or while being left in a room full of keyboards, overnight. I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougsthang Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 I'm still looking for the "any" key... overheard street personality on Venice Beach "Man, that Bullshit is Bulllshhittt...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbach1 Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 To bad the esc key doesn't work when windows locks up. bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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