In what year did they invent a computer mouse, and who is the creator of this unique device?

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

Why the mouse was called a mouse

There are two versions of why this device was dubbed with a mouse. Some people believe that this name was given to her by an American engineer Douglas Engelbart, since her drive was like a tail. Others note that the name came from the English word mouse "mouse", consonant with the abbreviation of Manually Operated User Signal Encoder ("user-defined signal encoder that is manually controlled").

"And in what year did they invent a computer mouse?" - you ask. As Engelbart himself said in an interview, the idea of his offspring appeared in the 1950s, while studying at the University of Berkeley, in the laboratory. There he was a scientist engaged in radar installations, which belong to NASA.

History of the creation of the first mouse

Telling, in what year the computer mouse was invented and how it looked, it is impossible not to recall the significant day of December 9, 1968. On this day, Engelbart first introduced to his surroundings his new invention, officially called the "computer manipulator." The first mouse did not enjoy the wild popularity of people, because it was very cumbersome, uncomfortable. But when the creator showed the graphical control in real time - it was like a bolt from the blue.

Douglas is one of the founders of human-machine interface research. He also became the creator of a text editor, group online conferences. He wrote more than 25 works, in his possession 20 patents for technological inventions and many awards.

Having dealt with the question of what year the computer mouse was invented, we can smoothly switch to its use. In 1986, the computer mouse, like other creations Engelbart, remained unclaimed and did not bring the creator of the expected income. But still it is an amazing device, and without it any computer process now can not do.

Developed it is not accidental. Conventional manipulators (joystick, keyboard) simply hampered the work of the windowed environment, and Douglas quickly came up with an add-on that is able to facilitate having processes. This device turned out to be a truly ingenious find, which in the world did not exist yet.

In what year was the mouse invented, and how did it look like

Engelbart, together with his colleagues, created a table with the characteristics of all known manipulators for that period, including foot, knuckled and others. After some time, a very awkward construction 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 produced a forward-backward, forward-to-left mouse movement. The first acting prototype was presented by Engelbart's colleague - Bill English, and Jeff Rulifson wrote the program for illustration.

NASA did not appreciate the created manipulator, besides Engelbart did not know how to correctly represent their developments from a commercial point of view, naively believing that sensible people themselves would sort everything out. In 1986, he received a patent for the "indicator coordinator" x and y "for the display system", necessary to create a new mouse. This model was very different from the first sample - it already had three buttons, but to the modern version it was still very far away.

Interesting fact

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

Awards

We have found out in which year the computer mouse was invented. It was in 1968 Engelbart received a reward for his invention in the amount of 10 thousand dollars. But already in 1997, the engineer's works were rated much higher - he was awarded the Lemelson award (in the amount of 500 thousand dollars), and a little later was noted as a prestigious Turing award.

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

About future

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