ESCAPE - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

sadistikdreams · 06-24-2004, 06:41 PM

THe man who invented the "escape" key died today.

This is a very sad day in the computer world.

Bamrak · 06-24-2004, 06:44 PM

Wow. That's sad. How old was he?

glytch · 06-24-2004, 07:34 PM

He also invented the backslash, and most importantly, helped invent ASCII
He was 84.

ratbastid · 06-25-2004, 04:39 AM

<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=5&u=/nm/20040624/tc_nm/people_bemer_dc">Linky</a>

Quote:

Computer Pioneer Bemer, Helped Build ASCII, Dies

Thu Jun 24, 5:12 PM ET

DALLAS (Reuters) - 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.

glytch · 06-25-2004, 07:43 AM

Woops, Slashdot has him as 78 when he died. Wonder which one is correct?

tropple · 06-25-2004, 09:02 AM

84 is correct. It was on the CNN ticker this morning.

redarrow · 06-25-2004, 09:11 AM

Whats the URL of his website?

06-24-2004, 06:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
sadistikdreams lonely rolling star Location: Seattle.	ESCAPE THe man who invented the "escape" key died today. This is a very sad day in the computer world. __________________ "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." -Lin Yutang hearts, by d.a.

06-24-2004, 07:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	He also invented the backslash, and most importantly, helped invent ASCII He was 84. __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

06-25-2004, 07:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
glytch I am not permanent. Location: Tennessee	Woops, Slashdot has him as 78 when he died. Wonder which one is correct? __________________ If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

06-25-2004, 09:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
tropple Junkie	84 is correct. It was on the CNN ticker this morning. __________________ +++++++++++Boom!

06-24-2004, 06:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
Bamrak Enter Title Here Location: Tennessee	Wow. That's sad. How old was he?

06-25-2004, 09:11 AM	#7 (permalink)
redarrow Banned Location: i gotta go	Whats the URL of his website?