When did the first computer mouse appear? Who is the inventor of the computer manipulator (mouse)

The history of the emergence, development and improvement of manipulators is not as simple and short as it might seem at first glance: for example, an ordinary computer mouse was invented almost half a century ago.

Since then, the entire civilized world has been closely following her reincarnations. As for the first keyboards, their concept appeared long before the advent of the personal computer (remember mechanical typewriters). However, before we begin to describe the history of these devices, let’s define the terminology: by manipulators we mean the following devices that have ever existed: mouse, keyboard, trackball, trackpoint (pointing stick), graphics tablet (digitizer), light pen, touchpad , touch screen, Roller Mouse, joystick, Kinect and other game controllers.

How the keyboard has changed

The first computers, dating back to the late 40s, supported information entry using both punched cards and teletypes. Later, with the development of computers, punched cards began to be perceived as a relic of the past, and they were replaced by more advanced methods of storing information, such as magnetic tapes.

In the 60s, with the advent of the first video terminals, which made it possible to display input and output information in real time, text input finally became the main way of communication between a person and a computer. Of course, in those days there were no graphical interfaces, and a primitive keyboard was enough to work in text mode.

As already mentioned in the introduction, the first keyboards appeared long before personal computers: their history began with the development of mechanical typewriters in 1868. This method of entering information was quick and convenient, and as a result it quickly caught on. The next step was teletypes, which replaced the telegraph at the beginning of the last century, and then electric typewriters and the first computers appeared. Thus, keyboards changed from mechanical to electronic. The world's first computer with a graphical interface, developed at Xerox PARC, was the Xerox Alto.

In the first personal computers, the keyboard was part of the case, but later, with the advent of the IBM PC concept, they began to be produced as independent devices, and later their wireless analogues appeared.

How was the input device connected to the operating system of a personal computer? At first, optical interfaces were used for communication, but they caused a lot of inconvenience due to the fact that they required a direct line of sight between the receiver and the transmitter, failed in bright light, and were subsequently supplanted by radio interfaces.

In addition to standard keyboards, today there are gaming keyboards, completely redesigned for left-handed play (Thrustmaster Tacticalboard and Belkin SpeedPad Nostromo n50), keyboards with interchangeable key sets for different games (Zboard), recessed keyboards (DataHand System), chord keyboards, backlit keyboards and more. It was developed by Artemy Lebedev Studio Optimus project- a keyboard in which the current value of each key is displayed through a small built-in LCD display, which displays exactly what it is currently controlling. “Optimus” is simultaneously suitable for any keyboard layout - Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, and can display notes, numbers, special characters, HTML codes, mathematical functions, images, etc. The configurator program allows you to program each button to play a sequence of characters, as well as edit the image for each individual layout.

A similar keyboard was once patented in the United States by Apple.

Among the promising areas of development in recent years we can highlight text input adaptation for portable devices. On traditional phones and smartphones, keyboards are compressed to twelve keys, each of which is responsible for a lot of characters. To speed up input, systems like T9 (which appeared in 1996) are used, which can select the appropriate word from the dictionary. Of the full-size keyboards typical for devices with touch displays, the most popular currently is the Latin QWERTY keyboard layout. Its name comes from the 6 left characters of the top row of the layout. Today, layouts for many other languages ​​of the world have been created on the basis of such a keyboard. The experimental Shark (Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding) system, developed in 2004 by IBM, was a kind of shorthand that allowed you to enter words into a mobile device by marking them - letter by letter - on a virtual keyboard. For example, to enter the word word, the user did not press four separate virtual keys with the stylus, but simply drew a straight line from the letter “w” to the letter “d”. Such a system made it possible to type on a virtual keyboard without lifting the pen from the screen, but the mass introduction of such extensions never began.

Another variety - projection keyboard. The idea of ​​​​implementing a virtual keyboard without wires and buttons was born about a decade ago within the walls of the Israeli company Developer VKB Inc. Presented at CeBIT 2002 by Siemens Procurement Logistics Services, the first virtual keyboard without a single mechanical or electrical element was the first practical implementation of this idea. The creators of the laser virtual keyboard interface assumed that their development could in practice be integrated into any mobile device - phone, laptop, tablet PC, and even into sterile medical equipment. However, during the entire existence of the concept, only one model was developed (iTECH Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard), which is a small box from which a keyboard image is projected using a laser onto any smooth surface, and pressing virtual keys is recorded by a special infrared sensor.

The evolution of the computer mouse

The history of the computer mouse begins with the appearance trackball.

The device was developed for the needs of the military, but customers were dissatisfied with the provided sample, and the invention was forgotten until the appearance of the first laptop models, but the use of trackballs in these devices was subsequently abandoned.

Functionally, the trackball is an inverted mechanical (ball) mouse. The ball is located on top or side, and the user can rotate it with the palm or fingers without moving the body of the device. Despite the external differences, the trackball and the mouse are structurally similar - when moving, the ball rotates a pair of rollers or, in a more modern version, it is scanned by optical motion sensors (as in an optical mouse).

Currently, trackballs are not used in home and office computers, but they have found application in industrial and military computing installations, ultrasound diagnostic devices, where the user has to work in conditions of limited space and in the presence of vibration. In general, the first computer mouse (with the functionality to which we are accustomed) was invented in 1964 by Douglas Karl Engelbart, an employee of the Stanford Research Institute. The information input device looked like a wooden box with a button that moved along the table on wheels, and, counting their revolutions and turns, entered information into the computer and thus controlled the movement of the cursor on the screen.

Initially mouse was not intended for personal computers at all, but for more precise control of a point on the radar screen. Let us note that Engelbart did not work alone on the creation of the manipulator: he is the author of the idea and the developer of the concept, but he did not technically manufacture the device itself. The first mouse was made by graduate student Bill English, and Jeff Rulifson, who joined them later, significantly improved the design of the mouse and developed software for it.

Subsequently, the creators of the first mouse received a grant for the serial production of their devices, and already at the end of 1968 the first full-fledged mouse appeared, which, unlike the prototype, no longer had one button, but three.

The next stage in the evolution of computer mice dates back to the 70s of the twentieth century, when engineers began to think about the ease of using computers for complex technical calculations. Thus, the first patented computer that included a mouse was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System minicomputer, presented to the general public in 1981, and already in 1983 Apple released its own model of a one-button mouse for the Lisa computer, note that This device configuration was maintained for many years. The computer mouse gained wide popularity thanks to its use in Apple Macintosh computers and later in Windows OS for IBM PC compatible computers.

Soon the GUI (Graphic User Interface) displaced text input-output into the area of ​​specific tasks. By this time, instead of inconvenient wheels, mice began to be equipped with balls.

The next stage in the evolution of computer mice was the appearance optical manipulators, and subsequently, starting with the creation of the Logitech MX1000 mouse in 2004 (Fig.6), their laser wireless analogues with optical and radio interfaces, as well as with induction power supply (devices manufactured by A4Tech).

Another version of this manipulator is 3D mouse, capable of working in three-dimensional space.

According to the designers, the use of such devices will allow the user to move freely in three-dimensional space, which can be useful both in games and when working with three-dimensional graphics. The manipulator automatically adapts to the 3D editor used (AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk 3ds Max). Clicking, moving, rotating or tilting, zooming, and rotating the model can all be done simultaneously. The main element of a 3D mouse is the motion controller, which has the same operating principle in all models. Six degrees of freedom (three linear and three angular) provide movement and rotation of the model in all directions. In this case, you can turn off the degrees of freedom, invert the axes, and swap the Zoom in/Zoom out and Up/Down functions. The speed of movement/rotation depends on the force applied to the motion controller. Force sensitivity is adjusted through the settings panel.

Worthy of attention and graphics tablets(devices from Wacom, Genius, etc.), which are especially appreciated by artists and architects who work on a computer. No other manipulator allows you to achieve an equally believable imitation of a pencil or brush. The pen of graphics tablets is designed to compensate for the “clumsiness” of the mouse in artistic matters. For example, the system from Genius WizardPad distinguishes 256 levels of pressure on the pen. The tablet resolution reaches 2540 lines per inch, and its working surface area is 4-5 inches.

The tablet has a serial interface. The device is supplied with drivers for most Microsoft operating systems, including DOS and Windows 3.xx/95.

Manipulators for laptops can be classified into a separate group. As you know, mice are not always suitable for work on the road, and trackballs are quite difficult to integrate into a thin device body. Here they are replaced touchpads(TouchPad - touch panel).

The touchpad was invented in 1988 by George Gerfeide. Later, Apple licensed his project and, starting in 1994, began using it in PowerBook laptops. From this point on, the touchpad became the most common cursor control device for laptops. The operation of touchpads is based on measuring the capacitance of the finger or measuring the capacitance between the sensors. Capacitive sensors are located along the vertical and horizontal axes of the touchpad, which allows you to determine the position of your finger with the required accuracy. A type of touchpad is TouchWriter; it is distinguished by the fact that it can perceive pressure from both fingers and any objects (pencil base, stylus).

Previously, laptop manufacturers used instead of touchpads minijoysticks (trackpoints), located in the center of the keyboard and trackballs. TrackPoint - Pointing stick was invented by research scientist Ted Zelker, and subsequently registered by IBM under the brand name TrackPoint. Traditionally, such a joystick had a replaceable rubber casing, which was made of a rough material for user convenience. The cursor is controlled by detecting the applied force (hence the name strain gauge joystick), using a pair of resistive strain sensors (resistive strain gauges). The cursor movement vector is determined in accordance with the applied force. The main disadvantage of the device was cursor drift, requiring frequent recalibration. Therefore, over time, its implementation was abandoned.

To ensure that the use of manipulators built into a laptop does not become a serious stress for the user, manufacturers invented more and more new devices. One such solution was the Mouse Tablet kit (model MT-604C) manufactured by WinPal Electronics. It included a graphics tablet, an electronic pen and a three-button mouse without a ball. Note that the kit consumed impressive amounts of electricity when in use, and the Mouse Tablet kit comes with an impressive package of drivers and software. Changing the active device (that is, switching from a pen to a mouse and vice versa) was carried out by pressing any button on the corresponding manipulator. Say, when you press the tip of the pen, the latter becomes active; the same effect is achieved by pressing the left mouse button. The graphics tablet and pen could work in both direct interaction with the monitor screen (absolute coordinator) and indirect (relative). The Mouse Tablet driver menu also made it possible to calibrate the pen and mouse, set the working surface area, and adjust the pen and mouse according to user preferences.

The significant disadvantages of the device were: 1. due to the use of electromagnetic technology in the Mouse Tablet, the tablet could be subject to interference from other elements of the computer (for example, a monitor). In addition, he could not tolerate temperatures above 40°C, so a cup of hot coffee on the table could easily be “deadly” for him. Another serious drawback: incompatibility with standard manipulators supported by Windows: if you entered safe mode, the Mouse Tablet stopped functioning, and, moreover, could “drag” the keyboard with it, which significantly slowed down the work process.

Technologies of our days

As for modern technologies, we note that recently users have given preference touch screens, created specifically to reduce the size of the PDA. They can be found in pocket computers, smartphones, Tablet PCs, and all kinds of terminals. One of the main disadvantages of touch panels has always been the lack of tactile feedback, as a result of which it was impossible to use them blindly. However, the American company Immersion offered a way out and developed TouchSense technology, which adds a feedback function to sensitive screens. The technology was first demonstrated on a 19-inch screen in 2005, and its long-awaited transfer to mobile devices is planned for 2010-2011.

Often the touch screen is controlled using stylus, a device made in the form of a small thin pen with a special tip. The progenitor of the stylus is light pen(English light pen).

Externally, the device looked like a ballpoint pen or pencil connected by a wire to one of the computer’s I/O ports. Typically, a light pen had one or more buttons that were pressed by the hand holding the pen. Data input using a light pen was made by drawing lines with the pen across the surface of the monitor screen. A photocell was installed in the tip of the pen, which recorded the change in brightness of the screen at the point with which the pen came into contact, due to which the corresponding software calculated the position “indicated” by the pen on the screen. The buttons on the light pen were used similarly to the mouse buttons - to perform additional operations and enable additional modes.

Technology has evolved thanks to touch screens multi-touch(English multi-touch) - a function of touch input systems that simultaneously determines the coordinates of two or more touch points. Multi-touch screens allow several users to work with the device simultaneously, as well as determine the coordinates of touch points with maximum accuracy. Correct recognition of all touch points increases the capabilities of the touch input system interface. The most popular form of multi-touch devices are mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), multi-touch tables (eg: Microsoft Surface) and multi-touch walls.

The use of technology began with touch screens to control electronic devices. The creators of the first synthesizers and electronic instruments, Hugh Le Caine and Bob Moog experimented with the use of capacitive touch sensors to control the sounds their instruments made.

A multi-touch table is a pedestal with a glass tabletop surface, which serves as a screen for a projector located at its base. Various multimedia content can be displayed on such a table: presentations, videos, slide shows. The connection between the user and the system is ensured by an interactive film (touch screen) glued to the glass surface; it also allows you to manage content using special software.

Unlike touch screens, a multi-touch table provides broader and more flexible options for controlling objects: the user can use multi-touch functions, as well as change multimedia objects, for example, enlarge, reduce, rotate, and move images. Another advantage of multi-touch tables is the ability for several users to simultaneously work within a single system, managing a large amount of information.

Should be included in a separate group game controllers. These include joysticks, gamepads, computer steering wheels and steering wheels, dance platforms, kinect, etc.

Interestingly, some modern game controllers have a feedback effect (Force Feedback technology). The first such devices appeared in the 90s in the USA, when the Immersion company, having received an order from government agencies to create a simulator for surgeons, decided to try to transfer one of the created technologies into the gaming space. The military became interested in the invention. Subsequently, the US Military Department acquired a batch of new manipulators for pilot training. So, in early 1996, Immersion released the first production joystick, Force-FX.

After this, active mass production of gaming wheels, steering wheels, etc. began. Another interesting technology in the field of gaming controllers is gyroscopes, with the help of which it is possible to determine changes in the location of the joystick in space. Their mass introduction began with the new generation consoles Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.

An interesting modern input device is the Kinect (formerly Project Natal).

The game “controller without a controller” for Xbox 360 was developed by Microsoft. Based on adding a peripheral to the Xbox 360 game console, Kinect allows the user to interact with it without the aid of a game controller through verbal commands, body poses, and displayed objects or drawings. The device was first presented on June 1, 2009 at the E³ exhibition, where Microsoft demonstrated several methods of using the technology: Ricochet - a Breakout-like game in which the whole body is used to hit balls that break blocks and Paint Party - in which the player can throw paint on a wall . The player can select colors by voice and use body poses to create stencils. Visually, Kinect looks like this: it is a horizontal box on a small round base that is placed above or below the display. Its dimensions are approximately 23 cm in length and 4 cm in height.

The device consists of two depth sensors, a color video camera and a microphone array. Proprietary software provides full 3-dimensional recognition of body movements, facial expressions and voices. The microphone array allows the Xbox 360 to localize the source of sound and cancel noise, which makes it possible to talk without headphones and the Xbox Live microphone. The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS matrix, which allows the Kinect sensor to receive a three-dimensional image in any natural light. The depth range and design program allow the sensor to be automatically calibrated based on playing conditions and environmental conditions, such as furniture in the room.

We can only guess how manipulators will evolve in the near future. In the near future, computer recognition systems for human speech will become perfect and almost all technical devices can be controlled using voice; perhaps full-fledged tactile interfaces will emerge, allowing, for example, gamers everything that happens to their character during the game.

Development of neural interfaces is also underway. There are already several known cases where people confined to a wheelchair agreed to participate in an experiment on implantation of a special implant into the brain, thanks to which they were able to control the cursor on the monitor screen solely with the help of the “power of thought.” In general, the plot of the film “Surrogates” may soon become a reality.

However, I note that, as in life, innovations in working with manipulators are only good as long as the program works like a clock. The slightest malfunction in the operation of the operating system - and all non-standard devices with their proprietary drivers instantly “fly off”, and the average user will only have to admire the graphical interface, frantically remember (if he knows) the “hot keys” and regret that he did not take a regular computer with him mouse.

Nowadays, when it is already difficult to imagine life without a computer, any technology related to it has also become an integral part of our existence. It is quite difficult to use a modern computer and even a laptop without a computer mouse. However, this name for the device that controls the cursor on the screen appeared a little later. But everything is in order.

The history of the creation of a computer mouse begins with the idea of ​​Douglas Engelbart to make a similar manipulator. His goal was to invent a device that could coordinate the actions of man and machine. First of all, the manipulator was not created to control personal computers, but for the needs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They needed a device that would allow them to interact interactively with objects on the screen. Engelbart managed to create such a device, which was originally called the “X and Y position indicator.”

Bill English worked with Douglas on the manipulator, and he brought his colleague’s idea to life. The device with a wire connected to it turned out to look like a mouse with a tail. This is where the name “computer mouse” came from. However, the invention did not arouse much interest at NASA, since it was impossible for them to work in zero gravity conditions. Engelbart, unable to find any other use for the device, sold the patent and clearly made it cheaper. He was bought for only 10 thousand dollars.

But Engelbart’s colleague Bill English decided not to stop there and talked about the Xerox company’s manipulator. It was there that they first decided to try using a mouse to control a personal computer, but the device was considered unpromising. A new stage in the history of the computer mouse is associated with Steve Jobs, the head of Apple; it was he who saw the potential in English’s invention and immediately bought the license from Stanford University.

After this, the computer mouse was released in combination with Apple's new computer, Lisa. The device was appreciated by all leading computer equipment manufacturers. Perhaps it was the creation of the computer mouse that inspired Bill Gates to create Windows.

It is impossible to imagine any modern computer without a computer mouse, although other input devices have become widespread today - touchpads, touch screens, graphics tablets, and so on. However, the history of the computer mouse does not end; every year new models of these devices appear, differing from their counterparts in the absence of a wire, the presence of additional buttons, a more convenient shape and weight adjustment using weights. By the way, a computer mouse is currently being developed that will hover above the table surface; the creators ironically called this device “Bat”.

Experts at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) later reduced the size and replaced the wheels with a ball in a bearing joint, the rotation of which was sensed by rollers with a set of contacts. This mouse became one of the input elements of the “computer of the future” Alto, and it was this mouse that Apple founder Steve Jobs saw when he visited PARC in 1979 to get acquainted with technical innovations that could be used in the company’s next computers.

Jobs liked the concept, but not the implementation. The Alto mouse cost $400, the interface for connecting it cost another 300, the dimensions resembled a brick, and there was no need to even talk about ease of use. So Jobs turned to the young company Hovey-Kelley Design, founded by two Stanford graduates, with a mandate... to reinvent everything. The task looked almost insurmountable - the young Hovey-Kelley engineers heard about such a device for the first time in their lives, and they needed to make it simpler, more reliable and more unpretentious to the surface (Jobs put forward the requirement for normal operation on jeans) and, most importantly, more than ten (!) times cheaper - prices range from $10 to $35.

Dean Hovey, the company's CEO, assembled the first rough prototype within a few days from a plastic oil can and a deodorant ball. This simple design formed the basis for further work. Electronics engineers Jim Sachs and Rickson Sun tried a lot of ways to read the revolutions of the ball - from embedding magnets into it to applying a special striped pattern, and settled on two rollers with rotation sensors in the form of perforated disks, which were read using LEDs and phototransistors. Jim Yurchenko, who was in charge of the mechanics, took on the difficult task of combining all this in one compact housing, and also made the device reliable and insensitive to dust and dirt by introducing a dust-collecting gasket into the design and making the ball easily removable (for cleaning the rollers). Then it was the turn of Douglas Dayton, who was responsible for the exterior and ergonomics of the “rodent” at Hovey-Kelley. At that time, no one imagined how users would hold such a manipulator. Palm? With your fingertips? How's the gearshift knob? How's the sanding block? What shape should the mouse be - oval, triangular, square?

After the form was approved, the question of the number of buttons came to the fore. Engelbart at one time used three buttons because he couldn’t figure out how to place more. Dayton also advocated three buttons, while Apple engineers were considering two. The dispute was resolved by Jobs himself, who relied on simplicity and limited the number of buttons to one, and this became the Apple standard for many years. And the mouse itself is an example of an input device that has survived since the appearance of the Apple Lisa computer in 1981 to the present day.

In modern times, almost every apartment has a personal computer or laptop. Both pensioners and small children can use them. Have you ever wondered who invented the first computer mouse? What prompted him to undertake painstaking mental work to develop a device that greatly simplifies the work of a PC.

Who and when invented the first computer mouse?

The first computer mouse was created by innovative engineer Douglas Engelbart. The invention appeared due to the scientist’s desire to simplify the work on computers.

So, in what year did the computer mouse appear? Engelbart began to think through and draw sketches of the device back in 1961. At that time, there were already controllers that could be used to control a computer, but they were too large and inconvenient to use. A year later, the engineer put forward his new project and requested a grant from the Nasa laboratory. The organization supported the scientist, and in 1965 the first mouse model appeared. It was a small wooden case connected by a wire to a computer, and equipped with two perpendicular wheels.

In 1968, Engelbart presented an improved plastic mouse with three buttons. Two years later, the inventor received a patent for the production of the gadget.

The gadget, invented by Douglas Engelbart, was called a mouse because it had a thick cord that resembled a tail. The innovator hoped that as time passed, its name would change to a more worthy one, but it has remained to this day. In the future, the scientist did not improve his invention, devoting time to his family and the fight against the discovered cancer.

Who is Douglas Engelbart?

The first person to start working on a computer mouse was born in 1925. As a young man, he was trained as an electrical engineer, and after the war he began working for NASA, when he realized that he liked working in computer technology.

The engineer's inventions include not only the mouse. Douglas Engelbart developed the chord keyboard. Only a person interested in the history of the development of computer technology can recognize a keyboard in a plate with five buttons. By pressing the buttons, you can type whole words, phrases, texts, programs, through various combinations of simultaneous pressing.

Now there are modern models of chord keyboards, although the gadget is not designed for “weak minds”. Remembering many keyboard shortcuts is not as easy as the familiar CTRL + C and CTRL + V.

The creator himself found it convenient to use such a keyboard until his last days. He died at the age of 88.

What did the invention of the mouse bring to the life of its creator?

While working on the creation of the gadget, Engelbart did not think about how he would get rich. For his successful invention, he received only $10,000, which he spent on buying a house for his family. The innovator's further ideas were not accepted by management. The once famous scientist has faded into obscurity.

In the nineties, the small reward given to the person who invented the computer mouse was considered unfair, and he received a bonus of $500,000.

With the funds received, the scientist founded his own institute, of which he appointed his daughter as director. The act was very noble, because surely the scientist could provide a cloudless, rich life for himself and his descendants. However, he considered it more important to allow highly intelligent young people to learn, improve and give the world the same innovative ideas that Douglas himself brought.

What will happen to the computer mouse in the future?

Despite the fact that Douglas Engelbart’s invention has been faithfully serving people for more than 50 years, something new always replaces everything old. More and more advanced mouse models are being developed. There is already a device in the form of a glove that allows you to control the cursor and finger movements in the air, and in the near future it is possible to switch to full touch control of the computer. Unfortunately, in a few decades, the mouse can only be seen in a museum.

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60s of the XX century. The personal computer will become a mass device only two decades later, but scientists are already using computers to their full potential. A keyboard is enough to control it - you just need to know the commands. However, the appearance of graphic elements makes inventors think about how to use them more conveniently.
Electrical engineering doctor Douglas Carl Engelbart, sitting at a conference on computer graphics, seems to have a good idea. The screen is an array of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally. To move around it, you can use two disks, each of which is responsible for its own axis. For control, we’ll add a mark to the screen, which will also allow you to interact with the object that is located under it. Over time, this complex description will be relegated to the concept of “click,” but in the 60s the idea was groundbreaking. All that remains is to implement it.

Wood, disks and a boring name

When the US Department of Defense invites Dr. Engelbart to work on a project for an information transmission system, he understands that this cannot be done without a new manipulator. Nobody thinks about design; functionality is more important. That's why the first mouse, introduced on December 9, 1968, looks like a box. The name of the invention is no less clumsy - “X-Y indicator for data display systems.”

There are two disks installed inside the device: one is responsible for horizontal movement, the second is responsible for vertical movement. Perhaps the wooden body of the mouse was cut out with the same disks. The cursor looked like a spot of light, there was no arrow to speak of. There is one button at the top, no more is needed. They started calling the device a mouse almost immediately after the public demonstration - all because of the wire that resembles a tail.

Subsequently, wood was abandoned in favor of plastic, and the number of buttons increased to three. For some time, a module with additional keys was supplied with the mouse. It was located to the left of the keyboard and supported a large number of shortcuts to perform various operations. But even the developers couldn’t remember all the commands, so they quickly abandoned the module.

Sharik opens new directions

I didn't have to ride the mouse discs for long. Already in 1972, Bill English, who had worked with Douglas Engelbart on the wooden prototype, developed a design with a trackball inside for Xerox. The cursor was driven by a metal ball and two rollers, so that the number of possible directions finally became more than four.

The main problem with the ball is constant contamination, even when using a special mat. Old-timers remember that once a stuck cursor was treated by disassembling the mouse and then wiping the insides with alcohol. You could also steal the ball after a computer science lesson.

However, in the 70s there was no problem with theft of balls, just like personal computers for the mass user. When the first PC with a mouse included (Xerox 8010) went on sale in 1981, the manipulator was a failure. People were great at using the keyboard, operating the system through a text-based interface, and didn't understand why they would spend $400 (half the average monthly salary in the US at the time!) on a weird box that had so few buttons.

Steve Jobs saved the computer mouse from oblivion.

Apple's revolution

January 1983. The Apple Lisa computer goes on sale, along with a mouse for just $25. Having assessed the potential of the device, Jobs insisted on reducing the price as much as possible. The mouse was developed by engineers from Hovey-Kelley, later renamed IDEO. They created hundreds of prototypes and conducted focus group studies to determine the number of buttons needed and even the click volume.

Thanks to a sharp reduction in cost, the device became widespread, and users began to gradually get used to controlling the graphical interface using the new manipulator. All this could have happened much earlier if Xerox had realized the potential of the device. But none of the managers appreciated the importance of the graphical interface and the options for using the manipulator. All Xerox developments in this direction cost Apple $40,000.

Jobs wouldn't be himself if he didn't pay attention to design. Apple's mouse only had one button, but this did not affect functionality. In subsequent years, the device will receive more and more rounded shapes, change colors, Jobs will personally check the click volume, but the rejection of a large number of buttons will remain unchanged.

Soulless technologies are displacing the ball

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, mouse designs changed, but overall the technology remained the same. The metal ball was replaced with a rubberized one, a scroll wheel appeared, which was developed independently by several people and popularized by Microsoft Corporation. Engineers also worked on the shape, making it more ergonomic, but the main problem - contamination of the ball - was solved only in 1999 with the release of the first mass-produced optical mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer.

Actually, the first optical mouse was created back in 1982, but it only worked on a special mouse pad. The reason for this was the optical sensors, which required special shading. At the end of the 20th century, mice with a matrix sensor appeared. They are equipped with a fast video camera that continuously films the surface, determining the direction of movement of the device. LEDs make her work easier. However, such devices were also not entirely universal: the sensor was lost on a mirror or transparent surface, and dust and lint led to errors in movement - for example, slight trembling of the cursor on the screen.

Later, developers began to use a semiconductor laser. This made it possible to increase the speed of movement and reduce the number of errors. Optical LED and laser mice are now the main assortment of computer equipment stores.

The tail is lost

Logitech is more to blame for the fact that some mouse models are left without a tail. Chronicle of crimes:

• 1984 - Logitech develops the first wireless mouse that operates via infrared.
• 1991 - Logitech MouseMan Cordless, a wireless mouse based on a 150 kHz radio signal, appears.
• 1994 - Logitech introduces the next generation of 27 MHz RF wireless mice.
• 2001 - the first serial wireless mouse Logitech Cordless MouseMan Optical.

The future of the computer mouse

It is unlikely that a revolution will occur in the near future that will radically change the appearance and purpose of the mouse. Manufacturers, of course, experiment with design and even try to promote new transportation technologies, but things almost never go beyond prototypes or rare devices for solving narrow problems. Induction mice, gyroscopic mice - thanks for the interesting description of the possibilities, but this is not a mass product.

What’s more interesting is how the developers play with the number of buttons. Some abandon them completely, offering multi-touch, others add new keys with the ability to assign specific commands to them. But, at least in the 21st century, no one voluntarily refuses a computer mouse in any of its manifestations, preferring to use only a keyboard and a text interface.