Working at SRI (Stanford Research Institute), he developed many patents. With his team at SRI, hedeveloped computer-interface elements such as bit-mapped screens, the mouse, hypertext, collaborative tools, and precursors to the graphical user interface. From 1967 to 1970, he developed, completed, and passed the patent for what he called the "mouse" of the computer, because of its tail with a wooden shell and composed of two metal wheels. His team also named the on-screen cursor, the "bug", but the term never caught on.
Unfortunately, "he never received any royalties for his mouse invention. During an interview, he says 'SRIpatented the mouse, but they really had no idea of its value. Some years later it was learned that they had licensed it to Apple for something like $40,000'" (Wikipedia).
Without Engelbart's achievements in computer science, we would not have what we now consider simple and normal to our computing systems, the mouse. Even the advancements of the years between PC and Mac, show and ever changing shape, use, and placement of the mouse, both in physical and on keyboard forms.
Nice picture! There are so many types of computer mouses out there. They have different sizes, colors, and shapes. It's fascinating to think of life without them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my friend John works at Apple and spent an hour trying to explain to an elderly woman that in order to make the arrow on the screen move, she had to click the mouse.
I also enjoyed the pictures with this post. It just goes to show you how far technology has come since the "first" mouse. My brother had a wireless mouse (for mac) and he used to be able to sit at the other side of the room and control his computer through his wireless mouse by putting it on the wall! It's so cool how far technology has come that we now have things like wireless mice and keyboards. But then there is always the problem of interference, and it comes down to which comes out to being better, wired or wireless.
ReplyDeleteNote that Engelbart was influenced by communication theory, notably the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis that the language you speak influence the way you see the world and the related non-Aristotelian perspective of Alfred Korzybski's general semantics.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to Lauren's comment, I also think its interesting to think about how far technology has come. Today's laptops give us the option to plug in a mouse and use it or just use a joystick or touch pad. On my computer there is so much I can do with my touch pad, including click on things on the screen as well as scroll down the the page.
ReplyDeleteHypertext is great. Thanks for the convience Engelbart. I didn't know about the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, its a very interesting concept in understanding human nature.
ReplyDelete