Many legends circulate about the genesis and the diffusion of the first mouse in the computer world. The most widespread is obviously that of Steve Jobs spotting this strange device during a visit to the Xerox labs and negotiating a cheap licence to democratise it at Apple in 1983… But if this story is not a legend, it is only a fragment of the mouse’s life. For it was in 1968 that computer pioneer Douglas Engelbart designed and created the prototype. He filed a US patent application for his funny invention on 21 June 1967, which was registered in 1970 (US Patent No. 3541541A).
First mouse: Douglas Engelbart, an unsung genius
The invention is described as an “XY position indicator for a display system. A few years later, at Xerox, he further explored human-computer interaction to make the mouse a more efficient input device. He was a true visionary who, as early as the end of the 1960s, projected himself into the digital future – a concept that did not even occur to the most disturbed minds of the time. In addition to having imagined the first computer mouse, he conceptualised video conferencing, teleconferencing, electronic mail and the hypertext system. A brilliant mind who must have been considered a madman at the time…
The history of technology has not made much room for this brilliant creator and will rather remember the episode of Steve Jobs who, according to legend, never paid the $40,000 licence fee for the mouse he had found…
At the end of an auction conducted by an entity specialising in “technological antiques”, Douglas Engelbart’s invention was sold on 16 March 2023 for almost $179,000.
For “general culture”, we recommend the following video, representing a recording from 1968 called Mother of All Demos, the name given to Douglas Engelbart’s demonstration that took place on December 9, 1968 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Some see this presentation as the first ‘Keynote’ in tech.
