The mouse and its three fathers

The mouse can be said to be the most familiar computer accessory to modern people. Its emergence has been listed by IEEE (the world's largest professional and technical society) as one of the most significant events in the 50 years since the birth of computers. From the moment we turn on the computer, whether we are surfing the Internet or playing games, installing software or chatting online, the gentle "click" sound of the mouse accompanies us all the time. It is like a free hand extended by humans into the computer. With an easy click, the computer can complete complex tasks according to commands.

The original computer did not have a mouse. At that time, software was a key part of the computer. The operator entered instructions through the keyboard to execute the software, and the software responded to the input instructions to operate the computer. These instructions are composed of English characters or numbers, so the operator has to memorize a large number of complex instructions and type them one by one on the keyboard. This creates an obstacle for people to use computers extensively and universally.

The biological father of the mouse

Doug Engelbart was the director of the Gain Research Center in the United States in the 1960s. He hoped to create new technologies that would make computers more efficient. In 1963, Engelbart made the original mouse out of wood and a small iron wheel at the Development Research Center of the Stanford Research Institute.

After repeated modifications and experiments, Engelbart demonstrated the world's first mouse (there was no name "mouse" at that time) at the IEEE conference on December 9, 1968. It was a small wooden box. There is only one button with two mutually perpendicular rollers inside. Its working principle is that the roller drives the shaft to rotate and causes the rheostat to change its resistance. The change in resistance generates a displacement signal, which is processed by the computer to indicate the position on the screen. The cursor can be moved. This small rough wooden box contains the bright future of personal computers entering thousands of households, so this day is designated as the birth day of the mouse.

In the laboratory, Engelbart. and his colleagues called this little guy with a long tail "Mouse". Although the name used when applying for the patent was called "Display System X-Y Position Indicator", the name "mouse" is obviously more popular. It has been passed down. At that time, the mouse still needed an external power supply to power it.

The adoptive father of the mouse

In 1973, the American PARC company adopted Ingebart's mouse design. The first real personal computer, ALTO, was launched. However, ALTO was too expensive at the time, so it was only used internally by employees of the American Xerox Company and was not promoted until 1979, when the young founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, saw ALTO. For computers, ALTO's emphasis on icons and direct input control impressed Steve Jobs. In 1983, Apple launched a personal computer with mouse operation and window functions. Since then, the mouse has been closely associated with personal computers. , after all, if Engelbart is the father of the mouse, Jobs should be the adoptive father of the mouse.

But the audience of Apple computers is still not wide enough. , Bill Gates, the "godfather" of the mouse, appeared. He saw the great prospects of windows and mice, and organized the development of a computer operating system that uses the mouse to click on window buttons, completely replacing the cumbersome operation method of inputting English program instructions on the keyboard in the past. . Operating computers suddenly became easier. People no longer needed to memorize complicated English program commands. For some common operations, they only needed to click the buttons in the window. This method of operation was the first in the history of computer development. A landmark event, the "dumb" version of the computer made it possible for it to enter ordinary people's homes. After Microsoft launched WINDOWS95, the little mouse created by Engelbart entered thousands of households with Windows.

After decades of development, the mouse has experienced rapid development from mechanical mouse, optical mouse to wireless mouse. Now mice with various functions emerge in endlessly.

Japan invented the "pupil mouse", in which the operator relies on the rotation of the pupils to control the mouse; the British invented the infrared-controlled "invisible mouse"; there are also mice that are worn on the hand like a ring, and a nose mouse for the disabled …The mouse has become so closely associated with us that it has even become the subject of good-natured ridicule. There are endless jokes and cartoons about mice on the Internet, and mouse painting has even become a new art form.

Perhaps, as notebooks become thinner and lighter, and computer accessories such as handheld computers, trackballs, and handwriting input continue to develop, the importance of the mouse will continue to decline, and it may even withdraw from the historical stage of computer development. But the mouse will always be remembered for its contribution to the popularization of computers.

Since mice are now everywhere in the world with computers, then Engelbart, the inventor of the mouse, must also have a fortune, right? This is not the case. Because the mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute with U.S. government funds, the patent rights for the mouse belong to the government. Engelbart is now nearly 80 years old and lives in Atherton, California, still focusing on his passionate research work.