the first mouse Essay 3: Digital Revolution - Thing May 9, 2015 | Shekhar P Bagawde | IXDS5503 Media History and Theory | Professor: Jason Occhipinti
Douglas Engelbart in 1984, showing the first mouse and a new one (Courtesy The Bootstrap Institute)
the first computer mouse
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(History Computer) The first computer mouse was conceived of in the early 1960’s by Douglas Engelbart, then a Director of Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), in Menlo Park, California. At the time of the invention of the mouse, Engelbart had already been exploring possible ways for people to increase their capability to solve complex problems for almost a dozen years. Engelbart decided to find an easy way for humans to interact with machines. The mouse was just a tiny piece of a much larger project, started in 1962, aimed at augmenting human intellect. [1]
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(History Computer) Engelbart and William (Bill) English (a colleague of Engelbart and the maker of the mouse) envisioned problem-solvers using computer-aided working stations to augment their efforts. They required the ability to interact with information displays using some sort of device to move a cursor around the screen. There were several devices then in use, or being considered for use: the light pen, joysticks, trackballs, trackpads, tablets with styli etc. There was even one that users were supposed to control with their knees. [2]
looking for the best and the most efficient device
Bug-positioning devices from left to right: joystick, Grafacon, and mouse. Essay 03: Digital Revolution - Thing | LC4D Lindsey Wilson College | May 2015
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DEC’s gyro-stlye “Grafacon”
A knee-operated pointing device
Light Pen Essay 03: Digital Revolution - Thing | LC4D Lindsey Wilson College | May 2015
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Error rates for “inexperienced” subjects, “Character Mode” operations.
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(History Computer) However, Engelbart was looking for the best and the most efficient device. They approached NASA in 1966 and said “let’s test them” and determine which of the devices works well. The project was funded by NASA and the team developed set of simple tasks and timed a group of volunteers in performing those tasks with the various devices. I was amazed to see how Engelbart and team relied on user testing the product prototype and validated by quantifying test results. One of the tasks for the usability test was that the computer would generate an object in a random position on the screen, and a cursor somewhere else on the screen. The team tracked the time it took the user to move the cursor to the object. These usability tests revealed that the ‘mouse’ outperformed all other devices. For e.g. devices like the light pens seemed simplest, but they took longer time, because the user had to pick them up and put them down each time. The tests also revealed that this was a tiresome activity. In 1964, the first prototype of computer mouse was developed to use with a graphical user interface (GUI). The original mouse had the cord in front, and the team moved it to the back end to get it out of the way. [3]
Comparison of the operand-locating devices for “experienced” subjects, “Character Mode” operations.
The first mouse was a simple mechanical device with two perpendicularly mounted discs on the bottom.
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X-Y position indicator for a display system (Patent) Engelbart applied for a patent in 1967 and received it as an assignor of SRI for the wooden shell with two metal wheels. “It was nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end,� Engelbart revealed about his invention. His version of windows and GUI was not considered patentable (no software patents were issued at that time), but Engelbart has over 45 other patents to his name. [4] Mouse Patent
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(Wired Archive) In Doug’s Words: “The mouse we built for the [1968] show was an early prototype that had three buttons. We turned it around so the tail came out the top. We started with it going the other direction, but the cord got tangled when you moved your arm. I first started making notes for the mouse in ‘61. At the time, the popular device for pointing on the screen was a light pen, which had come out of the radar program during the war. It was the standard way to navigate, but I didn’t think it was quite right. Two or three years later, we tested all the pointing gadgets available to see which was the best. Aside from the light pen there was the tracking ball and a slider on a pivot. I also wanted to try this mouse idea, so Bill English went off and built it.
Drawing from Engelbart’s Patent
We set up our experiments and the mouse won in every category, even though it had never been used before. It was faster, and with it people made fewer mistakes. Five or six of us were involved in these tests, but no one can remember who started calling it a mouse. I’m surprised the name stuck. We also did a lot of experiments to see how many buttons the mouse should have. We tried as many as five. We settled on three. That’s all we could fit. Now the three-button mouse has become standard, except for the Mac.” [5]
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(SRI) In early 1959, Engelbart pursued his visionary ideas by formulating a theoretical framework for the co-evolution of human skills, knowledge, and organizations. At the heart of his vision was the computer as an extension of human communication capabilities and a resource for the augmentation of human intellect. By 1968, Engelbart created and became the director of SRI’s Augmentation Research Center. With a group of young computer scientists and electrical engineers from the center, on December 9, 1968 he staged a 90-minute public multimedia demonstration at the 1968 Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. It was the world debut of personal and interactive computing, featuring a computer mouse that controlled a networked computer system to demonstrate hypertext linking, real-time text editing, multiple windows with flexible view control, cathode display tubes, and shared-screen teleconferencing. For its impact on computing and the world, the 1968 event has been dubbed “the mother of all demos.” [6]
The first production workstation and mouse
Bill English, Engelbart’s lead engineer, testing the first mouse and keypad
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dec 9, 1968 the mother of all demos
Engelbart rehearses “Mother of All Demos�
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(Doug Engelbart Institute) The mouse later migrated from Doug’s lab at SRI to Xerox PARC, and then to Apple and others. One of the most common myths about the mouse is the mistaken belief that it was invented at Xerox PARC. Note that the patent for the mouse was filed in 1967, by which time production models were in operational use throughout Doug’s lab, three years before Xerox PARC was established in 1970. [7]
Debunking the “Xerox PARC created the mouse” Myth
The first production workstation and mouse
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Douglas Carl Engelbart (1925-2013)
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References [1] The Mouse of Douglas Engelbart. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from History Computer website: http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/mouse.html [2] DISPLAY-SELECTION TECHNIQUES FOR TEXT MANIPULATION. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from Doug Engelbart Institute website: http://www.dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-133184.html [3] The Mouse of Douglas Engelbart. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from History Computer website: http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/mouse.html [4] D.C Engelbart - X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System [PDF]. (1970, November 17). Retrieved from http://history-computer.com/Library/mouse_patent.pdf [5] The Click Heard Round The World. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from Wired Archive website: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/mouse_pr.html [6] Computer Mouse and Interactive Computing. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from SRI International website:http://www.sri.com/work/timeline-innovation/timeline.php?timeline=business-entertainment#!&innovation=computer-mouse-interactive-computing [7] Father of the Mouse. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from Doug Engelbart Institute website: http://dougengelbart.org/firsts/mouse.html
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Image Sources Coverpage: Prototype Engelbart mouse (replica) - Computer History website: http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/input-output/14/350/1546 Douglas Engelbart in 1984, showing the first mouse and a new one (Courtesy The Bootstrap Institute)History Computer website: http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/mouse.html The first computer mouse - Stanford EDU website: http://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/extra4/sloan/MouseSite/Archive/patent/Mouse.html Error rates for “inexperienced” subjects, “Character Mode” operations. - Display Selection Techniques Manipulation website: http://www.dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-133184.html (republished from IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15) The first mouse was a simple mechanical device with two perpendicularly mounted discs on the bottom.. - Display Selection Techniques Manipulation website: http://www.dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-133184.html (republished from IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15) Mouse Patent and Drawing from Engelbart’s Patent X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System [PDF]. (1970, November 17). Retrieved from http://history-computer.com/Library/mouse_patent.pdf Father of the Mouse. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from Doug Engelbart Institute website: http://dougengelbart.org/ firsts/mouse.html The first production workstation and mouse - Computer Mouse and Interactive Computing. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from SRI International website:http://www.sri.com/work/timeline-innovation/timeline.php?timeline=business-entertainment#!&innovation=computer-mouse-interactive-computing Douglas Carl Engelbart - in 2008 by W Nowicki Essay 03: Digital Revolution - Thing | LC4D Lindsey Wilson College | May 2015
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