The mouse turns 40
Computer users everywhere rejoiced today (or perhaps were completely unfazed) as the venerable input device known as the mouse turned 40 years old.
In 1968, forty years ago to the day, Douglas Englebart unveiled his pointing device prototype at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco, CA.
While Englebart’s presentation first introduced the mouse to the public, it was Xerox that first released a commercially available pointing device bundled with its 8010 Information System. Sadly, the system cost $20,000 and saw few sales.
Just imagine what kind of gaming system $20,000 can buy these days, not to mention what mouse would come bundled with it…
Giant companies did not make mice affordable. Instead, it was a small computer company from Cupertino, CA named Apple that released the first inexpensive–and possibly the most iconic–mouse.
Since then, we’ve seen a huge amount of innovation in the guts of mice, but the basic concept has remained the same: A rectangular or oblong-shaped object with two main buttons and a relatively flat profile.
Some interesting facts about your favorite mouse manufacturers: