Who was Bob Bemer?

Bob Bemer was the greatest IT man of all time who received little recognition and monetary compensation for what we know today as ASCII code. You know the code: 01010101 ... The infamous code that enables our computers to read our emails, surf the web, instant message our friends, write Word documents, formulate Excel spreadsheets, etc? If it were not for Bob Bemer's invention and development of the ASCII code, we would certainly not be where we are today with computer technology despite the huge contribution of Bill Gates's Windows operating system. I should also mention that Bob Bemer predicted the Y2K date problem as far back as the early 1970s.

Mr. Bemer passed away from cancer on June 25. A sad day indeed for the world. From what I understand he lived, breathed and dreamed coding. If you are curious about the man who grand fathered our computer technology, visit his website at http://www.bobbemer.com/

Be sure to check out his license plate. The fellow had a great sense of humor too. What a hoot!

// posted by BasicRic on 6/29/2004 07:49:00 AM / Permanent Link