Mouse creator. History of the computer mouse. Union of two: computer and mouse

Exactly 40 years ago, on December 9, 1968, at a computer conference in San Francisco, among other innovations, Douglas Engelbart demonstrated the first mouse. Some computer legends say that a computer mouse was created in the Xerox laboratory, others that the mouse was created by order of Apple. In fact, a computer mouse, it is an indicator of x and y positions, it is a computer manipulator, it is a manipulator of the mouse type, was "born" in 1964. It was invented by Douglas Carl Engelbart; born January 30, 1925. ) from Stanford Research Institute.

There was no "government order" for the mouse - it appeared as one of the by-products during the development by Engelbart operating system oN-Line System (NLS). In the course of work on NLS, the concept of a "windowed" interface emerged, and the mouse was created as one of the possible manipulators for working with windows. Actually, the idea of ​​such a manipulator appeared in 1963, and in 1964 the first working prototype was made (in one interview, Engelbart said that he first thought about creating such a device back in 1951).

The first computer mouse was a wooden box self made, inside which there were two perpendicular wheels and a button. When the mouse moved, the wheels rolled on the table and made it possible to find out the direction and amount of movement of the device. This data was converted to cursor movement on the screen.

On December 9, 1968, the first public demonstration of the NLS system and, with it, a mouse prototype took place. And in 1970, Engelbart received a patent for "an indicator of x and y coordinates for a display system."

Engelbart did not work alone on the creation of the manipulator: he “only” invented the mouse, but the graduate student Bill English (Bill English; there are many “English Bill” in the world, but the trace of this has been lost, his biographical information is scarce and fragmentary). one of the few photographs of Bill English can be found on the "mouse site" of the virtual Stanford Museum). Later, Jeff Rulifson (now the head of the VLSI Research Group at Sun Microsystems Laboratories) significantly improved the design of the mouse and developed the software for it.

The archives of the Stanford University Virtual Museum contain an educational film from 1968, which demonstrates the first computer mouse and its amazing capabilities for that time. The next "mouse step" was taken in 1972 at the Xerox PARC Research Center in Palo Alto. An improved version of the Xerox mouse was created by Bill English, who joined PARC from Engelbart's lab: the two large wheels were replaced by a single bearing, whose movements were fixed by two rollers inside the mouse. The case design has become more reminiscent of a modern mouse.

Until the early 80s of the XX century. the mouse was still an exotic device. In 1983, there were about 10 companies that produced and sold various models computer mice... Some of these companies were founded by former employees of the Engelbart laboratory or PARC.

By the way, a mouse in those days was not cheap. For example, mice from The Mouse House, based on designs and patents from Xerox, cost about $ 400 (plus about $ 300 for the interface board to which the mouse was connected). This was due to the fact that the mouse had a rather complex (and not very reliable) mechanical device.

In short, the mouse, although it has become "officially recognized" peripheral device, but still remained the lot of researchers and developers of new computer technology, but by no means ordinary users.

In 1979 g. Apple designed Macintosh and Lisa PCs. It was decided to equip them with mice, and Steve Jobs ordered the creation of a mouse - unpretentious, reliable, with a cost price of about $ 20-30 - from the design company Hovey-Kelley Design. As a result, the mouse was significantly improved: instead of a small steel bearing in a complex mechanical suspension, a large rubber ball appeared, which freely rolled in the body. The system of wheels and unreliable electrical contacts has been replaced by optoelectronic converters and slotted wheels. In addition, it was decided to use a molded plastic case, in which all the necessary parts were clearly fixed in place. Thus, it was possible to abandon the precision machining of the case and manual assembly - now the mouse could be assembled by any worker on the conveyor.

We can say that the computer mouse gained popularity thanks to computers Apple Macintosh- and she, in turn, was one of the reasons for the overwhelming success of the Macintosh PC in 1984

Engelbart's mouse also contributed greatly to the successful launch of Windows 95 in August 1995.

By the way, Microsoft introduced mouse support to the IBM PC back in 1983, but later (Billy, as always, is a little late, but he realizes in time ...) than Apple, he drew attention to the mouse's capabilities when working with "windowed" systems.

About the name of the mouse, there are also computer legends - that it was suggested to be called, for example, a "beetle". These are legends and nothing more: in all interviews - when asked about the name - Engelbart invariably answered: “I don't know why we called it a mouse. This name stuck right away, and we never changed it. "

In 1968, Engelbart received a check for $ 10 thousand for his invention and the entire fee was made as the first contribution for a modest country house ... December 1, 2000 Engelbart for all his inventions, including the invention computer mouse, was awarded The National Medal of Technology - one of the highest awards for scientists in the United States for achievements in the IT field.

Now Douglas Engelbart could be richer and more famous than Bill Gates, but, unlike the latter, he is not modest in the American way: he has deliberately "gone into the shadows", and few people remember him.

Of course, you cannot say about the inventor of the computer mouse that he is as poor as a church mouse, but he did not earn millions / billions from his invention ...

according to information from open sources

Part of artificial intelligence

The inventor of the computer mouse was Douglas Carl Engelbart (born January 30, 1925), a researcher at the Stanford Institute. It happened in 1964, although, by his own admission, he had been thinking about such a device since the beginning of the 50s. The mouse, being a companion product of the oN-Line System (NLS) operating system, turned out to be one of the components of the grandiose project. It was about the development of artificial human intelligence.

Mouse inspiration

According to Douglas, it was the analysis of all other input devices that led him to create the mouse. When drawing up a grid of already known developments, the desired characteristics of the device, which at that time did not yet exist, were also determined. It happened in the same way as with the Periodic Table of the Elements. The system, which is defined by groups of rows and columns, itself leads to the discovery of previously unknown elements.

Without her, it’s like no hands!

An entire laboratory worked on the creation of a manipulator. Engelbart was the inventor of the mouse, and Bill English, according to his sketches, brought this idea to life. The first mouse had a wire in front, but to get it out of the way, I had to throw it back. The device resembled a mouse with a tail, which all employees began to call it that way.

This name has firmly entered computer slang... Phrase: "It's done in two mouse clicks!" today is understandable to everyone. If the mouse is working properly, we don't even notice its presence. But if problems happen to her, we are left without hands, or rather, without a mouse!

The tool is not for users

The very first computer mouse was a handmade mahogany box (!). A button and two perpendicular wheels are not such a tricky device. When moving with the mouse, the wheels rolled along a plane, which made it possible to determine the magnitude and direction of the change in position. Simultaneously, the data was reflected by moving the cursor on the screen.

However, the mouse, having become a recognized peripheral device, is still only a tool for developers of new technologies. It is not intended for ordinary users at all! But progress does not stand still: step by step the mouse is being improved, its design is changing. By 1981, there was the first computer mouse used to navigate the PC. The laurels of its creators remained with the Xerox 8010 Star Information System.

Inventor award

For over 40 years, millions of various computer mice have been produced annually. However, D. K. Engelbart did not become a millionaire. Being an extremely modest man, he simply went into the shadows. The invention was patented by the Stanford Institute, but then no one really imagined its true value. In 1968 it became known that the license had been transferred for only $ 40,000 to Apple.

Engelbart himself received only a check for $ 10 thousand for his invention. The fee, as the first payment, he paid for a small country house ... Later, the inventor was awarded one of the highest US awards for scientists - The National Medal of Technology. The event became the recognition of all his inventions in the IT field, including the computer mouse. It happened on December 1, 2000, and on December 9, 2008, the fortieth anniversary of the first demonstration of the invention was celebrated.

There are exceptions to any rule. You don't have to go far to find an example. Take, for example, the relationship of man with rodents. Those who have warm feelings for rats, marmots, porcupines and others like them are a minority. And vice versa: those who have a clear dislike for these animals are the overwhelming majority. Especially when it comes to the beautiful half of humanity.

At the same time, this state of affairs does not prevent a bunch of people every day to closely and even affectionately communicate with one of these cute creatures. Guess who I'm talking about ?! Of course, oh computer mouse! Read about the history of the invention, the appearance and the nuances of the development of this indispensable "rodent" today.

The Creator Fathers

Work on a device that would be able to transform a hand movement into a corresponding signal on a monitor started back in the middle of the last century. Moreover, these works had two characteristic features.

First, they walked in different places parallel to each other.

Secondly, the military ordered the inventive "music".

So, in 1946 Royal Navy of Great Britain represented by an engineer Ralph Benjamin presented the world's first prototype of a manipulator. It was created to replace the target control joystick on the radar screen. The device was named "roller ball" (from English - a rotating ball). The patent was issued in 1947.

For the alshe of the only prototype (it was a metal ball and two rubber-coated wheels), the matter did not go well. According to rumors, the secret development of the military and disappeared in the bowels of the British fleet.

V 1952 year trio of inventors Kenyon Taylor, Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff already under the auspices of the Royal Canadian Navy, for similar purposes as the British five years earlier, within the framework of the DATAR project, they developed their own manipulator. As in the case of the roller ball, the Canadian progenitor of the computer mouse never achieved commercial fame.

The most famous progenitor of the modern mouse was the work of the staff of the Stanford Research Institute - Douglas Engelbart(pictured on the side) and his assistant Bill English.

In the 60s of the XX century, in line with the work on an ambitious project to increase the capabilities of human intelligence, these scientists created a number of experimental devices. Among them was a computer mouse.

With amo, the word "mouse" for the first time flew from the lips of this very duet. In 1965 Bill English in his article "Computer-Aided Display Control" (from English - computerized display control) for the first time in history announced the emergence of a new manipulator. The manipulator became a "mouse" because of the conditional similarity of the device to a real mouse: the computer mouse had its own "tail" - a connecting wire. Physical demonstration of the three-button manipulator took place in December 1968 at the Interactive Gadgets Show in California.

For the creation of the device and the names for it, scientists from Stanford are considered to be the inventors of the computer mouse. It is curious, however, that they themselves did not receive special material dividends from this. The patent for the invention expired before mice were widely used in personal computers. But under other hands, Stanford scientists could become multimillionaires.

Union of two: computer and mouse

The manufacturers of the first personal computers drew attention to the new manipulator mouse. Albeit not immediately, but the mouse has become part of the computer. The following machines became pioneers in this regard:

• Xerox Alto(1973) - The "great-grandfather" of personal computers and the first PC to use a computer mouse.


• Lilith (1978) - Personal Computer, created at the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich by a group of enthusiasts led by Niklaus Wirth.


• Xerox 8010 Star Information System(1981) - the three-button mouse of this famous computer in the past is remembered primarily for its cost - $ 400.


• Lisa (1983) - computer product company equipped with its own one-button mouse. The latter went to the masses a little later thanks to its use in Apple Macintosh and IBM PC computers. The price of the "apple" manipulator was $ 25.


• Atari ST(1985) - another American computer of the 80s, the operation of which required the presence of a mouse, this time with two buttons.

The company, which was showing great promise at that time, could not ignore the creation of a computer mouse. And even though the brainchild of Paul Allen did not create their own computers, in 1982, the now world-famous corporation presented its own computer mouse to the public. With this event, the company initiated the diversification of its business, moving from "software" to "hard".

Thus, since the late 80s - early 90s, the computer mouse has seriously and for a long time entered the life of an ordinary computer user. Then the mouse improved its shape and acquired opportunities.

From mechanics to ergonomics

This volition of the computer mouse is truly multifaceted. The changes that she had experienced in the past affected everything. First of all, we are talking about the principle of operation of the device.

The original direct drive (two perpendicular wheels), the author of which was the already mentioned Douglas Engelbart, soon replaced the ball mechanism of the mouse device (a rubber-coated metal ball sandwiched between two rollers). Until the late 90s, the ball mechanism became king. Then an optical detector appeared.

First-generation optical computer mice, which were abandoned by mechanics, worked using LEDs and infrared photodiodes. The latest generation of optical rodents use an optical sensor based on a semiconductor laser.

Having gained high accuracy and reliability in the operation of an optical computer mouse, its creators could have stopped. But where there is! The metamorphosis of the computer "rodent" continued.

Induction computer mice appeared. For the operation of such a manipulator, a special pad-tablet is used. Without it, the mouse is incompetent, but with it it has the highest accuracy and does not require correct orientation on a surface.

In addition, gyroscopic mice are sold on the market today. These amazing devices, equipped with a gyroscope, are able to distinguish hand movements both on the surface and in space. You can control such a manipulator both on the table and in the air.

The advent of wireless mice has led to the disappearance of the "name-forming" factor - the cable from the mouse to the computer. Such devices interact with a PC via optical or radio communication. Truth, wireless mice have two drawbacks - increased weight and the constant need to recharge an autonomous power source.

Often, upgrading a computer mouse concerns aspects not related to its device.

The industry has become the “backbone” aspect of the development of the computer mouse. Avid gamers use mice specially designed for all kinds of games. Game adaptation presupposes that the mouse has numerous auxiliary buttons and a "filderable" design of the device.

The “kinky” design is a key factor in creating ergonomic mice. As the name suggests, these manipulators are designed to provide comfort and convenience to the human hand. The developers of these "rodents" are convinced that their mice follow the natural shape of the hand, which means they will not cause serious neurological diseases. Such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

"War" buttons

In the course of the evolution of the computer mouse, changes have also occurred with the button structure of the device. Initially, at the dawn of mass exploitation of the "tailed" manipulator, the competition was between two- and three-button mice. It's funny, but in this "war" mice with two buttons won.

The end of the "hostilities" comes at a time when the traditional two-button mouse acquired the obligatory scroll - a small scroll wheel of the screen. This event meant that the long-awaited victory was won by the eternal rival - the three-button "rodent". After all, the scroll is actually the third mouse button.

After this, the creative ardor of the developers of computer mice could no longer be appeased. New buttons poured out as if from a cornucopia. There are buttons for:

• ~ double click replacements;


• ~ horizontal scrolling;


• ~ navigation in;


• ~ manage audio and video files;


• ~ settings of sensitivity parameters;


• ~ launching certain;


• ~ and much more.

The company of Steve Jobs, who has already become legendary, has gone through the path of development of the button structure of its mice.

E ppl long time created one-button computer mice, considering the second, third, etc. buttons an unnecessary whim. This was until 2005, when the IT giant introduced the Mighty Mouse (from English - a powerful mouse). This computer mouse had two features.

First, the "powerful mouse" turned out to be as smooth as an egg.

Secondly, the buttons on this mouse turned out to be touch-sensitive. The Apple members have endowed the computer rodent with four touch-sensitive zones. Which replaced her with mechanical buttons.

About the future of the computer mouse

What does the future hold for the computer mouse? Nobody can know for certain. But I have no doubt that it will remain an indispensable attribute of human-computer interaction for the next decades. Another question is in what hypostasis: sensory, virtual or biomechanical. Time will give the answer, and if I have to, I will certainly tell you about it!

With a part of you, health and wealth immense.

I think our readers will be interested to know that the inventor of the computer mouse is Douglas Karl Engelbart.

It was a handmade mahogany box with a button and two perpendicularly placed wheels. The wire first came out from the front. This, of course, interfered with the movement of the mouse and was thrown back. The device very much began to resemble an ordinary mouse with a tail, so since then it has been called a mouse!

Douglas Karl Engelbart

Step by step, the design of the computer mouse has been modified and improved. Do you think Engelbart patented his invention and became a millionaire? Far from it! This humble man received only a check for a thousand dollars for his invention and went into the shadows.

Interesting Facts

• If we take into account inflation and translate the price of the first mouse into modern money, then it cost almost $ 1,000!
• In the Soviet Union, they also produced their own computer mice, only they were called not mice, but manipulators "Kolobok". Instead of a wheel, the manipulators had a heavy ball without a rubber coating.

The most spectacular innovations

• Wireless mice (radio or infrared);
• Hygroscopic mice (you do not need to drive on the rug, you can also go through the air);
• Inflatable mice (to save space in the bag when deflated);
• Washable mice (for those who are panicky afraid of the accumulation of microbes);
• 3D mice

Fantasy creators appearance computer mice are also striking: the cases were produced in the form of cars, airplanes, a female figure, human brains, hand grenades; gave mice such a realistic look of a real fluffy mouse that Greenpeace was simply outraged.

Note that features # 4, 5, 6 do not work in all browsers.

Harm from a computer mouse

Once again I am convinced that everything that a person invents brings both benefit and harm at the same time. Here is a computer mouse, with which it is so easy to carry out many different manipulations, can become a threat to our health.

Frequent and prolonged use of a computer mouse can develop carpal tunnel syndrome - numbness or pain in the fingers. I will not talk about the disease itself, but I will tell you how to prevent it.

When using the mouse (as well as the keyboard), hold the brush freely: do not strain your wrist, do not squeeze or squeeze your fingers. Warm your hands for several minutes approximately every hour, and raise and lower them to "disperse" the blood and relieve numb sensations.

When buying a computer mouse, give preference not to fashion, but to convenience. By the way, the right armpit mat will also help prevent hand disease! Thanks to the mat with a special silicone pad (or pad with gel), your hand will be less tired.

Is it possible computer mouse replace with other devices?

Yes!
Trackball- the ball with the help of which the control is carried out.
Touchpad – Touchpad controlled by your fingers.

And for a snack jokes about a computer mouse …

Little tricks: so as not to lose wireless mouse, tie it with a rope or fishing line to the monitor.

Two blondes:
- Olya, tell me, when I copy the text with the mouse, where is it saved?
- As where? In the mouse, of course.

A computer mouse at night collects crumbs from your table and hides them in the keyboard, makes supplies for the winter.

Question to the support service: What should I do if I brought the mouse to the edge of the mat, and the cursor does not
reached the edge of the screen? Answer: Raise the mouse, rearrange the rug, lower the mouse, keep moving. To avoid further difficulties, tape the 4 rugs together.

A hacker reads a fairy tale to his grandson:
- "... he began to click the goldfish ..."
- Grandfather, why a fish?
- And because, my friend, there were no mice then.

In the modern world, there are such objects, without which, in the literal sense of the word, as without hands. A computer mouse is one of those devices that a user practically cannot do without. Its main purpose is to rebuild the mechanical movements of the computer user into the movement of the cursor on the screen. Of course, we can do with just one keyboard, touchscreen or touchpad, but we can still compare working at a computer without a mouse to riding a bicycle without pedals. Let's find out in what year the mouse was invented and who its creator is.

Why was the mouse called a mouse

There are two versions of why this device was dubbed a mouse. Some people believe that this name was given to her by an American engineer because her drive looked like a tail. Others note that the name comes from the English word mouse "mouse", which is consonant with the abbreviation for Manually Operated User Signal Encoder.

"What year was the computer mouse invented?" - you ask. As Engelbart himself said in an interview, the idea of ​​his brainchild appeared in the 50s, while studying in the laboratory. There, a scientist, he was engaged in radar installations that belong to NASA.

The history of the creation of the first mouse

Telling what year and how she looked, one cannot but recall the significant day on December 9, 1968. On this day, Engelbart first presented to those around him his new invention, which had the official name "computer manipulator". The first mouse was not wildly popular with people, because it was very bulky and uncomfortable. But when the creator showed the graphical controls in real time, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Douglas is one of the pioneers of human-machine interface research. He also became the creator text editor, group online conferences. He has written over 25 papers, holds 20 patents for technological inventions and many awards.

Having dealt with the question in what year the computer mouse was invented, we can smoothly move on to using it. In 1986, the computer mouse, like Engelbart's other creations, remained unclaimed and did not bring the creator the expected income. But nevertheless, this is an amazing device, and any computer process cannot do without it now.

It was not developed by chance. Conventional manipulators (joystick, keyboard) simply slowed down the work of the windowing environment, and Douglas quickly came up with an add-on that could facilitate those processes. This device turned out to be a truly ingenious find, which has not yet existed in the world.

What year was the mouse invented, and what it looked like

Engelbart, together with his colleagues, created a table with the characteristics of all known manipulators of that period, including leg, knee and others. After some time, a very awkward structure appears in the form of a thick wooden box with a small red button and an uncomfortable "tail" at the user's fingertips. Inside there were two metal discs that made the mouse move back and forth, right and left. The first working prototype was presented by Engelbart's colleague Bill English, and the illustration programs were written by Jeff Rulifson.

NASA did not appreciate the created manipulator, moreover, Engelbart did not know how to competently present his developments from a commercial point of view, naively believing that smart people would figure it out themselves. In 1986, he received a patent for an "x and y indicator coordinator for a display system" needed to create a new mouse. This model it was very different from the first sample - it already had three buttons, but it was still very far from the modern version.

The first computer typing, which included a mouse, was the Xerox 8010 mini-computer, which was introduced in 1981. The mouse of this company consisted of three buttons and cost $ 400. In 1983 the famous Apple created its own unique mouse with one button for the Lisa computer, its price dropped to $ 25.

Awards

We have found out in what year the computer mouse was invented. It was in 1968 that Engelbart received a reward for his invention in the amount of 10 thousand dollars. But already in 1997, the works of the engineer were appreciated much higher - he was awarded the Lemelson Prize (in the amount of 500 thousand dollars), and a little later he was awarded the prestigious Turing Award.

In 2000, on December 1, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventions, including the computer mouse. This is one of the highest awards in the United States for achievements in the IT field. Engelbart was not rich and successful, led a modest lifestyle, and few people remembered him. And in 2013, at the age of 88, he left the mortal world.

About future

Now we have found out in what year the computer mouse was invented, and who made it. Then the question remains open - what awaits her in the future? Nobody knows for certain, but the fact that it will remain an attribute of interaction with a computer in the coming decades is difficult to dispute. Another thing is in what form it will happen - in sensory, virtual or biomechanical. Time, of course, will put everything in its place, and we only need to wait for progress to move on.