Such a component for a computer, like a mouse, is known in our time to everyone. It is impossible to work normally on any stationary computer without using a mouse. It feels like she was just there. But this feeling is erroneous, since any objects and things are invented by someone.
Who is the inventor of the computer mouse?
There are various rumors about the invention of the mouse. According to one information, it was created in the Xerox laboratory, other legends say that the order of Apple Corporation was the culprit for the birthday of the “mouse”.
Neither one nor the other is fundamentally wrong. The inventor of the computer manipulator "mouse" - Douglas Engelbart. His innovation was showcased among others at an IT conference in San Francisco. It happened in the winter of 1968.
In the aforementioned year, a ready-made accessory saw the light. What year was the computer mouse invented?
The first thoughts about how to create such a device were with Douglas back in 1951. The very idea and its technical implementation took place in 1963 and 1964.
At the time, Engelbart was working on his oN-Line System (NLS) operating system. Work on this software led to the concept of a “windows” interface. Making the mouse was a side job. This accessory was positioned as one of the possible manipulators in order to work with windows. The idea of a mouse appeared a year before its invention, and in 1964 the first working prototype of this device saw the light.
Why did the mouse become a mouse? No one knows this, and even Engelbart himself admits that he has no answer to this question. According to him, this name of the accessory immediately took root, and subsequently never changed.
What did the first such device look like? Imagine a small wooden box. Inside it are two wheels located perpendicular to each other, as well as a button located on the outside of the mouse. Moving the mouse across the table causes the wheels to roll. By performing this simple action, it was possible to find out the direction of movement of the device, as well as the amount by which the device was moved. This data was then converted into cursor movement on the monitor screen.
The mouse at that time was a very expensive pleasure. The Mouse House company produced similar devices, which were estimated at $400. Another $300 had to be paid for the interface board to which the mouse was connected. Such a high cost was due to the rather complex and not very reliable mechanical device of the mouse. In short, the mouse became officially recognized, but in fact remained available only to developers of new computer technologies. Ordinary users have so far been away from it due to the very high cost and, as a result, the inaccessibility of this device for them.
15 years after the invention of the mouse, Apple was developing the Macintosh. The company decided to equip these computers with newly invented accessories. The head of the corporation ordered the creation of a mouse, the cost of which turned out to be $25. The “Apple” device was significantly improved: firstly, it was decided to abandon the mechanical suspension - now a large rubber ball rolled freely in the body. The wheels were replaced by slotted wheels, and the electrical contacts were replaced by optics. Rejecting manual assembly, it was decided to use a plastic case, in which each part was attached in its place. Thus, human labor was significantly abolished - now any worker could assemble a mouse on a conveyor.
The device invented by Engelbart and the development of the Macintosh influenced each other in a mutually positive way. The mouse became popular thanks to Apple, and the “macs” themselves - due to the fact that the corporation made a bold decision (and, subsequently, implemented) to equip computers with a mouse.
In August 1995, the second graphical operating system from Microsoft, Windows 95, was launched. Engelbart's invention played a significant role in the success of the operating system and greatly contributed to its success.
After a successful demonstration of the device so popular these days, Douglas received a check for his invention in the amount of $10,000. At the beginning of the 21st century, Engelbart was awarded the National Medal of Technology for his inventions. It is considered in the USA the highest award for scientists for their IT achievements.
Douglas could now have untold treasures and be much richer than Bill Gates. Only not the American modesty of the one who invented the mouse influenced the fact that he deliberately went into the shadows. Now, few people know that it was Douglas Engelbart who invented in 1964 what the whole world has been using for more than half a century.
Exactly 40 years ago, on December 9, 1968, at a computer conference in San Francisco, among other innovations, Douglas Engelbart demonstrated the first mouse. Some computer legends say that the computer mouse was created in the Xerox laboratory, others that the mouse was created by order of Apple. In fact, a computer mouse, it is also an indicator of x and y positions, it is also a computer manipulator, it is also a mouse-type manipulator, “was born” in 1964. It was invented by Douglas Carl Engelbart (Douglas Carl Engelbart; born January 30, 1925 ) from the Stanford Research Institute.
There was no "government order" for the mouse - it appeared as one of the by-products in the development of the oN-Line System (NLS) operating system by Engelbart. In the course of work on NLS, the concept of a "windowed" interface appeared, and the mouse was created as one of the possible manipulators for working with windows. In fact, the idea of such a manipulator appeared in 1963, and in 1964 the first working prototype was made (in one interview, Engelbart said that he had his first thoughts about creating such a device as early as 1951).
The first computer mouse was a handmade wooden box, inside which were two perpendicular wheels and a button. When the mouse was moved, the wheels rolled on the table and made it possible to know the direction and amount of movement of the device. This data was converted into cursor movement on the screen.
On December 9, 1968, the first public demonstration of the NLS system and, with it, the mouse prototype took place. And in 1970, Engelbart received a patent for "an indicator of x and y coordinates for a display system."
Engelbart did not work alone on the creation of the manipulator: he “only” invented the mouse, but brought his idea to life by graduate student Bill English (Bill English; there are many “bills-English” in the world, but the trace of this has been lost, his biographical information is scarce and fragmentary. From one of the few photographs of Bill English can be found on the "mouse site" of the Stanford Virtual Museum). Later, Jeff Rulifson (now head of the VLSI Research Group at Sun Microsystems Laboratories) significantly improved the design of the mouse and developed software for it.
The archives of the Stanford University Virtual Museum hold a 1968 educational film showing the first computer mouse and its amazing capabilities for the time. The next "mouse step" was made in 1972 at the Xerox PARC research center in Palo Alto. An improved version of the Xerox mouse was created by Bill English, who moved to PARC from Engelbart's lab: the two large wheels were replaced with a single bearing, whose movements were recorded using two rollers inside the mouse. The body design has become more like a modern mouse.
Until the beginning of the 80s of the XX century. the mouse was still an exotic device. In 1983, there were about 10 companies that made and sold various models of computer mice. Some of these companies were founded by former employees of Engelbart's laboratory or PARC.
By the way, the mouse in those days was expensive. For example, The Mouse House mice, based on Xerox designs and patents, cost about $400 (plus about $300 for the interface board that the mouse plugged into). This was due to the fact that the mouse had a rather complicated (and not very reliable) mechanical device.
In short, the mouse, although it became an "officially recognized" peripheral device, was still the lot of researchers and developers of new computer technologies, but by no means ordinary users.
In 1979, Apple developed the Macintosh and Lisa PCs. It was decided to equip them with mice, and Steve Jobs ordered the creation of a mouse - unpretentious, reliable, with a cost of about $ 20-30 - from the design company Hovey-Kelley Design. As a result, the mouse has been significantly improved: instead of a small steel bearing in a complex mechanical suspension, a large rubber ball rolls freely in the body. The system of wheels and unreliable electrical contacts was replaced by optoelectronic converters and slotted wheels. In addition, it was decided to use a molded plastic case, in which all the necessary parts were clearly fixed in place. Thus, it was possible to refuse precision processing of the body and manual assembly - now any worker on the conveyor could assemble the mouse.
It can be said that the computer mouse gained popularity thanks to the Apple Macintosh computers - and it, in turn, became one of the reasons for the stunning success of the Macintosh PC in 1984.
The successful launch in August 1995 of Windows 95 was also greatly facilitated by the Engelbart mouse.
By the way, Microsoft introduced mouse support in the IBM PC back in 1983, but later (Billy, as always, a little late, but catches on in time ...) than Apple paid attention to the mouse's capabilities when working with "window" systems.
About the name of the mouse, there are also near-computer legends - that it was proposed to call it, for example, "beetle". These are legends and nothing more: in all interviews - when asked about the name - Engelbart invariably answered: “I don’t know why we called it a mouse. The name stuck right away and we never changed it."
In 1968, Engelbart received a check for $10,000 for his invention and made the entire fee as the first contribution for a modest country house ... On December 1, 2000, Engelbart was awarded the National Medal of Technology (The National Medal of Technology is one of the highest US awards for scientists for achievements in the IT field.
Now Douglas Engelbart could be richer and more famous than Bill Gates, but, unlike the latter, he is not American modest: he deliberately "went into the shadows", and few people remember him.
Of course, you can’t say about the inventor of a computer mouse that he is poor, like a church mouse, but he didn’t earn millions / billions on his invention ...
according to information from open sources
There are such items, without which, in the literal sense, as without hands. This device is one of them: a rare computer user does without it. This refers to the mouse manipulator (this is its official name), the purpose of which is to convert the user's mechanical movements into movements of the pointer-cursor on the screen. Of course, you can get by with just one keyboard or touchscreen devices and a touchpad, and yet working at a computer without a mouse can be safely compared to riding a bicycle without pedals.
Why the mouse was called a mouse, there are two versions. Some believe that the inventor American engineer Douglas Engelbart gave her this name, since her wire looked like a tail (another name “beetle”, associated with the shape of the body, did not take root). Others are sure that the English mouse “mouse” is an abbreviation for Manually Operated User Signal Encoder (“manually operated user signal encoder”). Engelbart himself mentioned in an interview that the idea for such a device was born to him in the early 1950s, while studying at the University of Berkeley and working in the radar laboratory owned by NACA (the future NASA).
However, this idea was realized only in 1964, when Engelbart, engaged in the creation of the computer operating system oN-Line System (NLS), considered the concept of a window interface. A convenient manipulator was needed to indicate objects on the screen when working with texts interactively. Engelbart and his colleagues tabulated the characteristics of all manipulators known at the beginning of the 1960s, including foot, knee, and so on.
Mouse Engelbart.
D. Engelbart.
None of the existing ones met the requirements of scientists, and then a rather clumsy construction was born - a thick-walled wooden box with a tiny red button, an uncomfortable "tail" under the user's wrist and large metal disks that turned when the device was moved. The first mouse was assembled by engineer Bill English, and programs to demonstrate its capabilities were written by Jeff Rulifson.
NASA did not appreciate either the operating system or the manipulator that came with it. They were considered unnecessarily complex, besides, Angel-bart never knew how to present his developments from the favorable side, believing that literate people would figure it out anyway. In 1968, he nevertheless received a patent for an "x and y coordinate indicator for a display system." This model was significantly different from the experimental sample, it already had three buttons, but still it was still very far from the modern mouse.
After the failure of the NLS system, Engelbart's laboratory was closed. English moved to the Xerox PARC Research Center, where many of today's computer technologies saw the light of day, and continued to improve the mouse. In 1972 he received a patent for a new model. English replaced two large disks with one bearing, the movements of which were fixed with the help of two rollers. The case design has also become more similar to the one we are used to.
B. English.
Three-button mouse. 1970s
The further fate of the mouse is closely connected with Apple. Its chief executive, Steve Jobe, commissioned the development of a new model from a small company, Hovey-Kelley Design. The task was not easy: it was necessary to reduce the cost of the product by at least ten times, to make the mouse more reliable and easy to use. As a result, the steel bearing in the complex mechanical suspension was replaced by a free-rolling rubber ball in the housing. The expensive system of coding disks and unreliable electrical contacts has been replaced by simple optoelectronic converters and slotted wheels. In addition, a molded plastic case was proposed, in which all parts were fastened in place. Such a mouse was simply assembled on an assembly line. What Apple ended up with was a reliable and inexpensive device that was one of the reasons for the overwhelming success of Macintosh computers that entered the market in 1984.
The mouse commissioned by Jobs turned out to be so successful that its operation lasted for almost two decades. Only in the second half of the 1990s, a new type of optical mouse was created in the Agilent Technologies research laboratory, which at that time belonged to Hewlett-Packard.
Mouse with ball drive.
Standard office mice have extravagant relatives designed for gamers. These more sensitive devices feature additional customizable buttons and a non-slip outer surface. And Logitech made an attempt to introduce interactive mice of the iFeel line, which, with a slight vibration, notified the owner of various events on the screen, but the novelty did not inspire users.
Not just mice
Designing unusual mice has become a kind of competition for designers. So, designers from South Korea have developed an inflatable JellyClick mouse, the electronic filling of which fits on a small flexible plate. When deflated, the mouse can be rolled up to the size of this plate, and the wire with the USB connector can be passed through a special holder. And the round gel Jelfin mouse can be used as a stress ball to crush and crush, relieving stress from hard work.
One of the most unusual mouse models is Hunter Digital's NoHands Mouse, controlled by... feet. The device consists of two pedals, one of which controls the movement of the pointer on the screen, and the second pressing the button. The developer claims that his device is not only more convenient compared to conventional mouse models, but also allows you to get rid of carpal syndrome, which 70% of people who spend a lot of time at the computer have. It is also noted that when using NoHands Mous, both hands are free to work on the keyboard.
At one time it seemed that the progressive touch interface would take away the status of the main coordinating input device from the mouse. However, it turned out that during prolonged work it is more tiring, since the hands have to be kept on weight. Therefore, the mouse is not going to give up its position, even though it is accused of provoking a painful carpal tunnel syndrome. After all, new ergonomic models and a rational mode of operation allow you to use the mouse with greater productivity and comfort.
Computer mouse: basic information Such a component for a computer as a mouse is known in our time to everyone. It is impossible to work normally on any stationary computer without ...
Computer mouse: basic information Such a component for a computer as a mouse is known in our time to everyone. It is impossible to work normally on any stationary computer without ...
One of the main accessories for a desktop computer, and a laptop too, is a computer mouse. With its help, all the functions and capabilities of the device are controlled, so it is quite difficult to do without it. And although laptops differ in that they have a touch control panel, not everyone finds it convenient.
That is why most users prefer to purchase a computer mouse so that the operation of the device is as comfortable and understandable as possible. But do you know about the year in which the very first mice were invented and who invented them? Why did such a design seem to be the most convenient and acceptable for manufacturers to control computers? You can learn about all this in this article. In addition, it is quite interesting to trace the evolution of this device - the way mice have changed over time is really amazing.
Who is the inventor of the computer mouse
The first such manipulator was introduced on December 9, 1968. Its inventor was Douglas Engelbert, who received a patent only in 1970. The mouse was shown at an interactive device expo in California, where it immediately attracted the attention of most visitors.
Who is Douglas Engelbert? Among his inventions are not only the mouse familiar to everyone, but also other things that we are used to using in the modern world. For example, text editor, hypertext, graphical user interface. 
This American scientist has a huge number of patents for a variety of inventions. He made a huge contribution to the development of computers, thanks to which modern models are equipped with an intuitive interface and many functions and applications. Douglas Engelbert also has awards for his technical developments. The scientist lived up to 88 years and died quite recently, in 2013.
All these discoveries were made at a time when the general public did not use computers. Nobody had them, and they were present exclusively at any productions or factories. The first mouse consisted of a wooden body and had two metal wheels.
The name, which is so common now and firmly entrenched behind the device, is explained by the fact that the wire, which was its obligatory attribute, very much resembles a mouse tail. And although wireless mice, headphones and other accessories are being used more and more, no one is going to change their name.
The history of the creation and development of a computer mouse
Now consider the further fate of the device. It gained popularity immediately, back in the seventies of the last century, because it was convenient and compact, and the control of any devices for which it was intended was greatly simplified.
The computer that added a mouse was the Alto. Even though the practicality and ease of use were immediately recognized by a huge number of people, the mouse had to undergo some changes. Firstly, this is the fact that the case began to be made of plastic - it is cheaper and the device is lighter. Currently, almost all models are made from this material.
The wire that influenced the name of the manipulator so much has moved to the fore. That is why it is now more difficult for us to unravel the nature of such a nickname - now the device is not as much like a real mouse as the original version. 
Buttons, which are one of the main elements, have become more convenient to use. And the roller discs used before gave way to balls, which are still common today.
Then came the optical mouse. It works with the help of an optical sensor. But wireless models appeared not as recently as it seems - back in 1991. But then they did not receive much distribution - signal transmission not by wire, but by means of infrared waves slowed down the device too much. Therefore, the vast majority of computers were equipped with conventional mice with a "tail" of the usual cable.
By the way, the inventor himself did not participate too much in improving the gadget he invented - all the developments were made mainly by other inventors. Douglas at that time had health problems, which forced him to be distracted from work in this area. He also received a not too big fee. This indicates that inventions were his vocation and were not created for the sake of money or profit.
Now it is impossible to imagine a single stationary computer without a mouse, although they are very different from what was shown at an exhibition in California in 1968. Let's look at the primary version and determine how else it differs from the mouse that you may now be holding in your hands.
After the first mouse was introduced, most scientists realized that all the control methods that existed before were not as effective as they previously seemed.
This device had practically nothing but a control dial, protruding wires and a very bulky case. The mouse movement sensor, which has changed the most over time and has become almost unrecognizable in our time, in such an invention was presented in the form of two perpendicular wheels, they protruded from the body. When moving, they spun in their dimension, which allowed them to control the computer.
This model had a lot of shortcomings, so this part of the mouse was one of the first to be changed for the sake of comfort in using the device.
For a very long time after that, a ball drive was used, but this design was far from ideal. There was constant contamination of the mouse element, which led to its jamming and required regular cleaning of the device.
After that, there were many more different ways to move the mouse so that it was convenient and the design did not greatly affect the functionality and performance of the accessory.
The most modern development, which has not yet become widespread due to its high cost, is a mouse that can be used regardless of the presence of a surface where it can be placed. This means that you can even control it in the air - a great option for those who refuse to use a full-fledged mouse in favor of a touch one, working in bed or other place that is not very intended for this.
Such devices are incredibly small and weigh no more than 13 grams, which makes them a very attractive manipulator to control your device. But this invention will not reach the general public soon - now the technology is at the development stage and is used exclusively for professional purposes.
Of great importance is the number of buttons on the mouse. Initially, a variety of manufacturers produced either two-button models, or three-button models, which made it impossible to connect one mouse to a computer from another company. But with the advent of the well-known wheel, which now plays the role of the very third button, this problem has been solved.
Conclusion
Thus, the invention of the computer mouse, which dates back to around 1968, when the mouse was introduced to the circle of scientists, was an important moment in the development of computers. And although then they did not yet have such a huge impact on the life of society that they have now and were not so common, the mouse made the control of the device as simple and clear as possible. Now any user can purchase a computer at home and use it for their own purposes, and it is not at all necessary for him to study a huge control manual, as could be the case with using a keyboard.
The first device, which became the prototype of all currently existing mice, differed significantly from modern ones not only in appearance, but also in functionality and ease of use. The mouse has come a long way in development, thanks to which it is now an integral part of the configuration of any PC provided on the market.
All over the world, Douglas Engelbart is rightly considered the inventor of the computer manipulator or the first computer mouse. However, as with most inventions, it didn't come out of nowhere, and before the device that gave rise to the modern mouse was invented, there were already several such concepts, prototypes, and fully functioning devices. So, if you suddenly became interested in the origin and history of this assistant in navigating your workspace, then you will find in this article a sufficient amount of information that may shed light on your questions.
First trackball
When tracing the history of the computer mouse, it is worth starting with one British engineer whose invention was classified as a military secret and hidden from the public. This engineer was a professor Ralph Benjamin, who, while working in the science department of the British Navy, invented a device that functioned almost the same as a trackball back in the mid-40s of the last century. According to an interview with Dr. Benjamin conducted in 2013, he was assigned the task of helping with the development of a device called the Integrated Display System. It was an early version of a computer that was supposed to calculate the theoretical trajectory of a tracked aircraft based on user input.
The cursor on the screen was controlled by a simple joystick, which Benjamin thought could be greatly improved, and after some tweaking he came up with what he called " roller ball". It functioned much like a standard mechanical mouse, having an outer ball that manipulated the two rubberized wheels inside, dedicated to the X and Y axes. This movement was then translated into a corresponding movement of the cursor on the screen.
So why don't people think it was the professor who invented the mouse? Besides the fact that Benjamin's device was not the progenitor of the modern computer mouse, it was rather its absolute opposite. After all, instead of moving the mouse, using the friction of the ball on the work surface, you had to rotate the huge ball manually. So it was more like a huge mechanical mouse turned inside out. Although Benjamin's device was more accurate than a joystick, it was never implemented, and due to the status of a military secret, the professor did not receive the attention he deserved for inventing, in fact, the modern trackball. And even despite the innovative nature of the device, he remains an obscure figure in the history of computer technology.
Second try
A device similar to the previous one was developed independently of Benjamin's design in 1952 by the company Ferranti Canada commissioned by the Canadian Defense Research Council. The company, among other things, was commissioned to create an input device for computers with a budget of "about zero dollars." Three engineers working for Ferranti Fred Longstaff, Tom Cranston And Canyon Talor, came up with the idea of using a ball placed in a special case, which was constantly in contact with four wheels located around it. When the ball was rotated in a given direction, the movement of the wheels was translated into the corresponding movements of the cursor on the screen.
Simply put, it was an independent "four-wheeled" version of Dr. Benjamin's trackball. It's funny that in order to please the low budget with which the engineers had to work, they did not “reinvent the wheel”. Instead of designing a trackball from scratch, they simply used a 16cm bowling ball. Well, due to the fact that the device was also developed for the military, it was covered with a veil of secrecy.
You see, Engelbart's mouse didn't use a ball at all, instead two perpendicular wheels touched directly to control the position of the cursor. Although the design of this device was quite functional, its disadvantage was that one wheel constantly partially scratched the surface of the table. However, let's not get ahead of events.
Engelbart device
Douglas Engelbart developed what is considered the direct "ancestor" of the modern mouse in the 60s as part of a project to discover the most efficient way to interact with a computer. Engelbart believed that the existing devices in use at the time (mostly keyboards and joysticks) were inefficient. With the help of an engineer Bill English he designed a portable device that contained two perpendicular wheels whose movements were controlled by a cursor. In fact, the principle of operation was the same as that of the two previously mentioned trackball devices, but without a ball and in a much more convenient size for controlling with one hand.
Engelbart came up with the concept of this device in 1961, and the first prototype was created by English already in 1964. Later, in 1966, Engelbart and English to NASA asking to fund a study to determine the most intuitive and efficient input device. The space agency agreed, after which a series of tests were carried out. The mouse turned out to be the most efficient, which surprised many, even the creators, since it had not been tested at all before. And the name "mouse" itself stuck to the device at an indefinite moment, during the tests. As Engelbart notes, “The reason for this was most likely a wire coming from the back of the structure.”
At the autumn Joint Computer Conference, held in San Francisco on December 9, 1968, Engelbart presented the mouse to more than a thousand computer engineers in one of the most influential computer presentations of all time, which also included other now well-known developments such as hyperlinks, video communications, remote access, etc.
Mechanical computer mouse and Xerox
Despite the mouse's public debut to the best minds in the world of computing, Engelbart's role, and even the monumental presentation itself, which would greatly influence future decades of computer development, was largely forgotten. Like many other inventors before him, Engelbart received little recognition. This is despite the fact that a few years later English continued to develop a mechanical computer mouse that used a ball to control the position of the cursor, which would later become a common design for almost all mice, until the advent of optical ones.
Aside from getting a little recognition from the fact that Engelbart and English were working at the Stanford Research Institute when they developed the first mouse, the final patent, which was granted for it in 1970, was not theirs. Thus, the creators did not have money and rights to her invention. Stanford Research Institute reportedly made some money from the patent before it expired in 1984 when they licensed it to Apple.
By the way, speaking of Apple, the mouse as we know it today came to its final form largely thanks to Steve Jobs. When Jobs went to the research center, he looked at the prototype mechanical mouse invented by Bill English, who was now working on Xerox PARC. Jobs immediately saw the deep potential of the device. As it turned out later, Xerox had been selling their first Xerox Alto computer with this mouse since 1973 and later bundled it with Xerox 8010 released in 1981.
However, the “top” of the company apparently misjudged how innovative their system was. As Jobs points out, "If Xerox knew what they had and took advantage of their real opportunities, they could be as big as I.B.M., Microsoft and Xerox together are the largest high-tech company in the world.”
Mouse by Apple
Jobs, stunned by this lack of vision, travels back to Apple and forces his team to completely rethink the company's personal computer vision, drastically changing its plans, introducing a windowing system with a mouse as a key component. According to Dean Hovey, Jobs later explained to him, “The Xerox mouse is a $300 mouse that breaks within two weeks. Our task is to produce an analogue for less than $15. That being said, it should last at least a couple of years, and I want to use it on both laminate flooring and jeans.” Hovey then explained that he had bought all the roll-on deodorants (because of the rolls themselves), as well as the oil can as a "body". This was the beginning of Apple's mouse. As to why the mouse Apple had only one button, unlike other competitors (the Xerox mouse had three buttons), everything is as simple as possible here. The company felt that managing such an outlandish and new device at that time was already a hassle, so making it simple and convenient was a priority.
The first appearance of the Apple mouse was marked with a rather controversial computer. Apple Lisa. This is the first Apple mouse to have a steel ball to drive the internal positioning wheels. As a result, the design was redesigned yet again (with the replacement rubber ball) for the more popular Apple Macintosh computer, released in 1984, which was one of the first commercially successful devices to use a mouse. Microsoft also released its own mouse in 1983 for the PC, between the Apple Lisa and the much more famous Macintosh 128K, but it was the latter that subsequently stimulated the wider adoption of the mouse.
Following the success of the Macintosh, other companies followed suit, and the mouse became a staple in every personal computer. Despite many predictions at various times that the mouse will follow the path of cassettes and push-button mobile phones, they are still popular and take on various forms and types to provide the greatest convenience and comfort when interacting with a computer.
Optical mouse
The optical mouse was developed around 1980, finally getting rid of the ball, which often became dirty from rolling on the desktop surface, which naturally had a negative effect on mouse performance. In 1988, a patent was issued for an optical mouse invented by Lisa M. Williams and Robert S. Cherry to be sold commercially with Xerox products such as Xerox STAR. The cost of production of one mouse was $17, and they went on sale for $35. Despite this, it wasn't until 1998 that optical mice became a commercially viable alternative to mechanical mice and hit the mass consumer market. This was achieved by increasing the processing power of microcontrollers and reducing component costs.
And from that moment on, the market for controllers and manipulators began to develop at a rapid pace, as well as other areas of technology and electronics. In 2004, the first laser mouse appeared, and later in 2010, devices such as the first 3-D mouse, which allows you to freely position the cursor in volumetric space, were introduced, as well as Microsoft Kinect, which is a gesture reader. Returning specifically to computer mice, we once again remind you that the modern market is full of a wide variety of wired, wireless, gaming and other models. And you can find the ratings of current innovations in this area on our website.
Hello! In today's post, I will tell you who is the inventor of the mouse computer manipulator, what the first workable model looked like, in what year the computer mouse was invented, which company developed the first such serial device, and many other facts.
Douglas Engelbart and his wooden toys
For the first time, the device was demonstrated in 1968 at an IT conference in California. It was introduced by machine interface researcher Douglas Engelbart, who received a patent for this manipulator two years later.
The designer was born in 1925 in Portland. Has Swedish, Norwegian and German roots. He served in the US Army during World War II.
Upon his return, he received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and subsequently a master's degree from the University of Berkeley. While still a graduate student, he helped create California Digital Computer.
Subsequently, he worked at the Stanford Research Institute, designing the magnetic components of computers and trying to reduce the dimensions of the electronic devices used at that time. Prior to the creation of the mouse, he received more than ten patents for various inventions.
In the ARC scientific center, together with a group of scientists, he developed the Online System, which became the prototype of a modern computer interface, the basic elements of which were the display of a raster image on the screen, a mouse-type manipulator, sharing tools, hypertext markup, and so on. 
As you can see, the mouse familiar to us did not appear by chance - this was preceded by years of painstaking work.
The history of creation proceeded at a time when there was not only software for computers, but more or less standardized components - each institute that worked on the creation of such machines used its own unique developments, both in terms of architecture and software.
Mother of all conferences
Of course, Douglas Engelbart's speech was not as pathetic as the presentations of Steve Jobs - he was still a scientist, not a marketer. Instead of colorful descriptions, the designer simply demonstrated how this device works.
Nevertheless, the scientific community reacted with interest to the new invention. Even then it became clear that this technology has great potential. The forecasts were confirmed - today, it is difficult for most users to imagine working with a PC without using a mouse.
Talking about the very first mouse, one cannot fail to mention how it looked. If you look at the photo, you can understand that the body was made of wood. To read the movements of the manipulator, longitudinal and transverse rollers were used.
The device weighed almost a kilogram! Read about the internal structure of a modern computer mouse and its principle of operation.
I would like to add that in the year when the computer mouse was first used, the presentation of the first videoconference, also held by Douglas Engelbart, took place. For communication, a microphone with headphones and conventional television cameras were used. 
And although the interlocutor was in the next room, the basis for modern communication technologies was laid even then. 50 years ago, Carl!
I also want to note that in 1968 it was the presentation of a workable prototype. And the inventor himself, such a manipulator, came up with in 1951, when he seriously started developing his own operating system oN-Line System.
The creation of software for it gave rise to the concept of windows (yes, it wasn’t Bill Gates who thought of creating “windows” at all), and the appearance of the mouse was a by-product caused by the need to work with such an interface.
Initially, the mouse was considered as one of the possible options. Had the situation been different, perhaps modern PCs would have looked different.
First production models
They were produced by The Mouse House, priced from $400 (more than $1,000 at the current rate, adjusted for inflation). Another 300 cost an interface board to connect such a device. This price is due to a complex and not very reliable design at that time.
The only difference from the prototype is that the case was already made of plastic, so such devices were lighter. So, the mouse was officially recognized, but it remained available only to developers of computer systems.
The first mass-produced computer to use a mouse was the Xerox 8010. Its manipulator had three buttons and did not differ much in price. 
Two years later, in 1983, Apple began mass production of Macintosh computers. The cost of the manipulator was reduced to $25. Approximately this is how much a modern high-quality gaming model costs, if anything.
The design was significantly improved - instead of a pair of rollers, a plastic ball was used. The main feature is that Yabloko abandoned manual assembly by launching conveyor production.
Such a move by Apple contributed to the popularization of this type of manipulator. It was thanks to the Macintosh that the developers of other platforms, including the PC, began to use the mouse.
And the final chord is the launch of the Windows 95 operating system, which took place in 1995. A mouse-centric OS owes much of its success to this mouse.
Today, when Windows is the dominant operating system in the world (including illegally used versions), it is extremely difficult to imagine a computer without a mouse.
Moreover, such a successful technology is also used in gadgets related to computers only indirectly. For example, in conjunction with a tablet (which is still more of a smartphone than a computer) and smart TVs (because it is more convenient to control its functionality with a mouse than with a remote control).
Also, the publications "" and "" will be useful for you.
A modern computer is generally impossible to imagine without this gadget, which greatly simplifies the process of managing a PC. But only a few users know in what year the computer mouse was invented, and who is its creator. Let's remember how this gadget appeared, and how it was from the very beginning.
What year was the computer mouse invented?
December 9, 1968 - it was on this day that the world saw the prototype of all modern computer mice. Of course, it was just a prototype. However, until that time, there were special computerized radars and manipulators, which became the basis for the creation of a modern mouse.
The very first prototype appeared in the early 50s. Then, according to the Cossack of the Canadian Navy, computerized radars with the first graphical interface were created. They required a special cursor positioning system, which was a simple device based on a smooth ball. It was called the trackball, and it was the first step towards the creation of a modern computer mouse.
A little later, in 1951, Douglas Engelbart (the creator) was already thinking about the development of a manipulator, and in 1955 he took part in the manufacture of radar systems. In particular, he developed information display systems within the framework of the NASA computer program. According to Douglas himself, together with his team he created a table with the parameters and capabilities of all modern manipulators at that time, determined their functions and required parameters, which did not exist then. In the course of research in 1963, the idea was formed to create a display pointer that would move in the X-Y coordinate system.
First prototype
In 1964, based on the design of Douglas Engelbart, Stanford Research Institute graduate student Billy English assembled the first prototype of a computer mouse. At the same time, a program was written to demonstrate its capabilities.
It was a big square brown wooden box with a big red button on the top. The cord was located in front, but over time it was moved back. So he didn't really interfere. Inside there was a planar displacement sensor, which consisted of two metal disks. They were located perpendicular to each other: one rotated when the device moved to the side, and the other was responsible for moving forward or backward. Given this design, the mouse could not be moved diagonally, it could move forward or backward.
Speaking about the year in which the computer mouse was invented, it is worth clarifying that some people rightly believe that this invention was "born" in 1946. After all, it was in this year that a prototype device of all modern computer gadgets appeared.
First introduction of the mouse
A little later, on December 9, 1968, Douglas Engelbart presented a more advanced modification of this device to a group of engineers. It worked as an oN-Line System OS manipulator. The mouse had three buttons, although Douglas Engelbart himself claimed that he wanted to make 5 buttons (for each finger). And although at first they planned to call the device a "beetle", the name "mouse" later took root - because of the thick connecting cable resembling the tails of a rodent.
So, if it is logical to calculate in what year the computer mouse was invented, then we can talk about two dates: 1964 and 1968. In 1970, the inventor received a patent, which recorded the authorship of a manipulator based on the use of two perpendicular wheels. At the same time, the principle of the manipulator itself was not patented.
In 1972, this study was actively engaged in the company Xerox PARC, which significantly improved this gadget. In particular, then the discs were replaced with a small ball or rollers. So there were new types of computer mice.
In 1979, Xerox created the Xerox Alto computer, which was a research prototype and was not included in the series. But it was equipped with a computer mouse and had a graphical interface in the form of a desktop. Several thousand such computers were created.
The appearance of a rubber ball inside the case
In 1979, the Stanford Research Institute (that's where Engelbart's team worked) sold the Apple mouse project for $40,000. Having obtained a license for such an invention, Apple commissioned Hovey-Kelley Design to improve the mouse. As a result, instead of a steel bearing, she received a comfortable rubber ball that rolled freely in the body. The introduction of this innovation made it possible to get rid of the complex system of coding wheels and electrical contacts. Instead, simple optoelectronic converters and slotted wheels were implemented.
Further development
In 1983, there were already a dozen companies producing and selling different types of computer mice. In the same year, Apple released the Lisa single-button mouse. It was developed by order of Apple in the center of Palo Alto. Engineers were able to create a cheap modification of this device, make it compact and collapsible. It was possible to remove the ball from the inside, clean it of dust. This mouse was included with the Apple-Macintosh home computer.
In 1987, the patent of Douglas Engelbart expired, and only in 1998 the merits of this inventor were officially recognized. Engelbart himself received the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.
Since 1999, optical mice have been appearing that work on any surface. Many models that came out after 2000 have survived to this day. Moreover, some of them are successfully used.
Finally
The history of the computer mouse is short. In about 30 years, it was possible to create a high-tech gadget from a primitive and very expensive device, which today is cheap. As for modern models, they are fundamentally different from the first computer mouse. All that remained from her was the idea of positioning the cursor on the graphical interface.
Now you know who invented the computer mouse. In this regard, no one has any doubts. But as for the date of creation, there are 2 opinions here:
- In 1964, a graduate student at the Stanford Research Institute created a prototype of this gadget (designed by Engelbart).
- In 1968, Engelbart himself presented a working improved version of the mouse.
Here, everyone decides for himself when the first computer mouse appeared. However, it is generally accepted that she first saw the world on December 9, 1968.
