We don't normally link to videos here at TUMW, but this one is special. It's a panel discussion where David Bradley is describing how he came up with
arguably the most famous key combination for personal computing: CTRL-ALT-DEL. Note that the first few seconds of
the video are blank, so keep watching. The fun(ny) part is where Bradley offhandedly mentions to Bill Gates (who is also on the panel) that although he invented the key combination, Bill made it famous. The guffaws of laughter make it clear almost immediately that his comment had been interpreted as a lighthearted dig, and Bradley quickly attempts to backpedal, saying that he meant when Microsoft chose CTRL-ALT-DEL for the login sequence in Windows NT. Needless to say, Bill does not look particularly amused to be the butt of the joke, intended or not.
For extra
credits, try to identify some of the other computing luminaries on the panel. Dan Bricklin stands out for me; who
else can you identify?
1. Jason,
For more details about the event with lots of pictures and names, see:
http://www.bricklin.com/albums/ibmpc20th/
For more about the IBM PC announcement time and thoughts about the anniversary see:
http://www.bricklin.com/ibmpcannouncement1981.htm
http://www.bricklin.com/ibmpc20thoughts.htm
-Dan Bricklin
Posted at 9:50AM on Mar 31st 2006 by Dan Bricklin