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History: Fire-Control Radar

A computer mouse is a hand-held pointing device that detects motion relative to a surface and translates that motion into movement of a cursor on a display. The first public demonstration of a mouse was in 1968 by Douglas Engelbart, though earlier prototypes had been developed. Originally wired, modern mice are often wireless. Early mice used a rolling ball to detect motion, while modern optical mice have no moving parts. In addition to moving a cursor, mice have buttons to allow operations like selecting menu items. Mice can also include additional controls like touch surfaces or scroll wheels.

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53 views2 pages

History: Fire-Control Radar

A computer mouse is a hand-held pointing device that detects motion relative to a surface and translates that motion into movement of a cursor on a display. The first public demonstration of a mouse was in 1968 by Douglas Engelbart, though earlier prototypes had been developed. Originally wired, modern mice are often wireless. Early mice used a rolling ball to detect motion, while modern optical mice have no moving parts. In addition to moving a cursor, mice have buttons to allow operations like selecting menu items. Mice can also include additional controls like touch surfaces or scroll wheels.

Uploaded by

2009prasenjit
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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A computer mouse is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensionalmotion relative to a

surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows a
smooth control of the graphical user interface. The first public demonstration of a mouse controlling
a computer system was in 1968. Originally wired to a computer, modern mice are now also cordless,
relying on short-range radio communication with the connected system. Mice originally used a ball
rolling on a surface to detect motion, but modern mice often have optical sensors that have no
moving parts. In addition to moving a cursor, computer mice have one or more buttons to allow
operations such as selection of a menu item on a display. Mice often also feature other elements,
such as touch surfaces and "wheels", which enable additional control and dimensional input.

Contents
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History[edit]
The trackball, a related pointing device, was invented in 1946 by Ralph Benjamin as part of a post-
World War II-era fire-controlradar plotting system called Comprehensive Display System (CDS).
Benjamin was then working for the British Royal NavyScientific Service. Benjamin's project
used analog computers to calculate the future position of target aircraft based on several initial input
points provided by a user with a joystick. Benjamin felt that a more elegant input device was needed
and invented what they called a "roller ball" for this purpose. [6][7]
The device was patented in 1947, [7] but only a prototype using a metal ball rolling on two rubber-
coated wheels was ever built, and the device was kept as a military secret. [6]
The earliest known publication of the term mouse as referring to a computer pointing device is in Bill
English's July 1965 publication, "Computer-Aided Display Control" likely originating from its
resemblance to the shape and size of a mouse, a rodent, with the cord resembling its tail.[1][2][3]
The plural for the small rodent is always "mice" in modern usage. The plural of a computer mouse is
"mouses" and "mice" according to most dictionaries, but "mice" being more common. [4] The first
recorded plural usage is "mice"; the online Oxford Dictionaries cites a 1984 use, and earlier uses
include J. C. R. Licklider's "The Computer as a Communication Device" of 1968. [5] The term
computer mouses may be used informally in some cases. Although, the plural of mouse (small
rodent) is mice, the two words have undergone a differentiation through usage.
In 1964, Bill English joined ARC, where he helped Engelbart build the first mouse prototype. [2][21] They
christened the device the mouse as early models had a cord attached to the rear part of the device
which looked like a tail, and in turn resembled the common mouse.[22] As noted above, this "mouse"
was first mentioned in print in a July 1965 report, on which English was the lead author. [1][2][3] On 9
December 1968, Engelbart publicly demonstrated the mouse at what would come to be known
as The Mother of All Demos. Engelbart never received any royalties for it, as his employer SRI held
the patent, which expired before the mouse became widely used in personal computers. [23] In any
event, the invention of the mouse was just a small part of Engelbart's much larger project of
augmenting human intellect.[24][25]
Inventor Douglas Engelbart holding the first computer mouse,[26] showing the wheels that make contact with the
working surface

The Engelbart mouse

mouse for about a year.


On October 2, 1968, a mouse device named Rollkugel (German for "rolling ball") was described as
an optional device for its SIG-100 terminal was developed by the German company Telefunken.[29] As
the name sugg
Several other experimental pointing-devices developed for Engelbart's oN-Line System (NLS)
exploited different body movements – for example, head-mounted devices attached to the chin or
nose – but ultimately the mouse won out because of its speed and convenience. [27] The first mouse, a
bulky device (pictured) used two potentiometers perpendicular to each other and connected to
wheels: the rotation of each wheel translated into motion along one axis.[28] At the time of the "Mother
of All Demos", Engelbart's group had been using their second generation, 3-button

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