I couldn't believe when I read it. The computer accessory called the "mouse" is now 40 years old! Plus, I never knew it was a Xerox invention, boy those guys and gals in Palo Alto are pretty clever. I picked up this article from IT Web, thought I would repost for everyone.
The computer mouse has turned 40: It was in December 1968 that the first mouse was demonstrated at research labs in California.
Thirteen years later, Xerox took the mouse commercial when it attached it to its Star computer system in 1981.
Remarkably, the mouse has changed little in these 40 years. The first prototype was developed at Stanford Research Institute by Dr Douglas Engelbart's research team as a new way of interacting with computers. Its original name while under development was "turtle"!
"It is worth remembering that in 1968 not many people even communicated with a computer by means of a keyboard," says Rob Abraham, MD of Bytes Document Solutions, the distributor of Xerox to 24 African countries.
"Computers filled entire rooms, they were difficult to program and use, very costly, limited in memory, and hard to interact with. Computer operators then used teletext and punchcards, by and large, and people seeing the first mouse were bemused."
On 9 December 1968, a simple demonstration of the new mouse changed everything. Point and click was made possible by a handheld wooden device with a button and two metal wheels. It had a thick cord protruding from its rear, which gave it its nickname, mouse, which stuck immediately and forever.
While the first mouse was primitive, even today it would be instantly recognisable. However, it was far ahead of its time and it remained a theoretical concept.
Xerox worked on it in subsequent years, and in 1981 it became part of commercial computing. Still, adoption was limited and it was only in the next year, when Xerox sold the new device to Apple Computer for $40 000, and Steve Jobs connected it to Apple II, that it took off and entered the mainstream.
The mouse has proved so successful as a man-machine interface that its basic design has remained intact for 40 years. In the meantime, it has sold literally in the billions - in November 2008 Logitech built its billionth mouse.
"Xerox is renowned for its innovation," adds Abraham. "Its other inventions include xerography, Ethernet, the laser printer, the graphical user interface, and most recently, reusable paper. Xerox invests $1.4 billion a year in research and development and has 5 000 scientists worldwide working on tomorrow's technology. Given its commitment to innovation, the company will continue producing such breakthrough technology as the computer mouse."
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