| Three-Fingered Salute |
2 February 2004
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Ctrl+Alt+Delete Inventor David Bradley Retires From IBM
Fame is a curious thing. Not only does it seem to favor the unworthy, but it seems to seek out the oddest facets of one's contributions to the common good. David Bradley, a programmer at IBM for 28 1/2 years, retired Friday after a long and lustrous career. Whatever else he may have done in the world of computers, Mr. Bradley has become famous as the man who invented the Ctrl+Alt+Delete command for IBM compatibles.
He says that the command took him about five minutes to encode. The team of 12 engineers, who gave the world the PC and of which he was an important part, needed a simple and effective way to restart a computer that refused to follow any other command (one will forebear to mention some operating systems that require this far less often than the PC's). A single button or switch would have been too risky because of the chance of an accidental restart. Hence, the three-fingered salute, which requires both hands as an added precaution.
Mr. Bradley wears his fame lightly around his shoulders, sharing a panel with Bill Gates at a conference for the 20th anniversary of the PC (Mr. Bradley said he invented the three-fingered salute, but Mr. Gates made it famous). He has also been the answer in the final round of TV's "Jeopardy" game show. One suspects that his students at North Carolina State, where he shall continue to teach now that Big Blue is out of his life, enjoy his classes. After all, he has a sense of humor about himself. He told the Associated Press, "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."
Some men are born great, some become great, some have greatness thrust upon them. Then, there is Mr. Bradley, who's greatness came from figuring out how man can still triumph over machine.
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