The box with the tail was patented 50 years ago. We still use the computer mouse

Today we commemorate the 50th anniversary of an interesting event that ultimately affected the entire computer world. November 17, 1970 namely, engineer and inventor Douglas Engelbart obtained a patent (U.S. Patent No. 3,541,541) for a device known today as mouse.

At the time, however, it was still an “XY locator for the imaging system”. You will surely recognize that the “computer mouse” sounds simpler and more popular.

Box with a tail

The term “mouse” was used by Engelbart himself precisely because his device resembled a mouse. At that time it was still a “box” with a cable also known as a “tail”.

If we are have already written in another article, the journey of a computer mouse into everyday life has been relatively long and thorny. The computer mouse prototype itself saw the light of day in the early 1960s.

However, it still took the form of “brief remarks and suggestions”. It was made into a real product in 1963 by Bill English, who they generally call a co-creator or even the “real father” of a computer mouse.

It was Bill English who created a real wooden box with a button and a couple of scroll wheels from the designs. These were placed on the bottom. The cable was a matter of course. Later, the wheels were replaced by a ball.

The mouse prototype was a reality, but it didn’t receive a real presentation until 1968. Only then did the now legendary “Mother of All Demos” presentation take place. He presented technologies and ideas that are already a common part of the IT world.

In addition to the mouse itself, space has also been given to the predecessor of today’s teleconferencing, real-time processing of textual content or even the functioning of hyperlinks in practice has been demonstrated.

You had to wait

However, even the mentioned presentation did not immediately pave the way for the mice to normal use. The mouse had to wait until 1981, when it first appeared as part of a commercially available computer, a device known as the Xerox 8010 Star Information System.

Apple first put the mouse into practice with the arrival of the Lisa personal computer in 1983. However, it was not possible to “popularize” until the arrival of the first Apple Macintosh computer and, of course, the expansion of personal computers. PC-class computer, resp. IBM PC.

Even today, when many science fiction films have long envisioned control of ideas or at least spatial touch control, the mouse is still an integral part of desktop or laptop computers.

However, it is also used in the world of tablets and mobile phones, especially when transformed into computers. For example, adding a physical keyboard.