‘CtrlAltDelete’ Inventor Restarts Career

From The Washington Post

David Bradley spent five minutes writing the computer code that has bailed out the world’s PC users for decades.

The result was one of the most well-known key combinations around: CtrlAltDelete. It forces obstinate computers to restart when they will no longer follow other commands.

Bradley, 55, is getting a new start of his own. He’s retiring Friday after 28 1/2 years with IBM….

Bradley, whose name was once mentioned as a clue in the final round of the TV game show “Jeopardy,” will continue teaching at N.C. State University after retirement.

“After having been the answer on final ‘Jeopardy,’ if I can be a clue in ‘The New York Times’ Sunday crossword puzzle, I will have met all my life’s goals,” Bradley said.

Key quote:

At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys.

“I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,” Bradley said.

Gates didn’t laugh.

NewMexiKen attended a demo by Gates several years ago. The demo crashed, much to the audience’s delight. I always wondered if Gates had enough of a sense of humor (and marketing savvy) to plan the crash. Guess not.