November 1st is the day of the dead. For some, the day they return from the darkness to scare us. For others, the day to remember them. And that is what we have been left with. Today we want to remember a man who revolutionized computing. The man who invented one of the indispensable elements of today. Douglas Engelbart, nothing would be the same.
We touch one every day. In fact, many people wouldn't know how to do anything without it. It is usually white and has recently had a little wheel in the middle. There are wireless ones and although their concept hasn't changed much, special models have been created in shapes that would never have been imagined. Steve Jobs hated him deeply. His creator, Douglas Engelbart, died a little over a year ago but his work, the mouse, will always be with us. Engelbart was recently inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.
He December 9, 1963 It is the day when Engelbart introduced the mouse to the world in an event that is still remembered today as “the mother of all demonstrations.” That day, it can be said, was the day that the main technologies of what is today a modern computerAt that event, Engelbart also introduced the multi-window system, hypertext, teleconferencing, dynamic file linking, version control, a word processor, and a collaborative real-time editor.
Engelbart made the first prototype of a mouse in 1963 with the help of engineer Bill English at the Stanford Research Institute. Its mouse-shaped design with the cable that connected it to the computer proved to be much more effective for pointing things on a screen than the other alternatives tested to date, such as a joystick or a stylus pen.
Engelbart gave the epic demonstration by sitting in front of a mouse, keyboard and other controls and projecting the computer screen. Engelbart showed in first person how a mouse could be used to control a computer by editing text and moving elements around. At that time, interaction with a computer was usually done through punch cards. It is not difficult to imagine the stir the mouse caused among those present.
Engelbart's computer system, which he called “oN Line System” (NLS) would later become the basis of the computer network ARPAnet, the original version of what we know today as the Internet.
Engerlbart was awarded 21 patents during his lifetime and is considered a true pioneer. His work and that of 24 other pioneers have recently been inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.