The History Of The Mouse

To enrich our brain with a little knowledge about The Mouse History, it is necessary to embark ourselves on a spellbinding journey spanning many decades from 1968 to the 21st Century.

In this guide, we’ll take a deep dive into the comprehensive history of the mouse, its origin, the evolution of its design, and its impact throughout the tech history.

The Origin Of Computer Mouse

A variety of input devices were created with the intention of making the human-computer interaction simpler and intuitive. We had trackballs, light pens and many other pointing devices but the most prominent invention that became the most used peripheral by the average consumer is the mouse.

If you think about it is kind of fun how the first types of inputting devices were not good enough to become as mainstream as the mouse but nowadays the latest versions of those are way more advanced and precise than the latest versions of the mouse. What would have been the real reason why the mouse became the favorite peripheral? Could it be that trackballs and light pens contemporary to the first mice lacked the technological advances to be as useful to the average user as the mouse was? This seems a little strange to me! If we analyze it and take into account the intuitiveness of the tools, it should have been easier for humans to adapt to the use of light pens.

When we want to point out something we simply point at it with our finger, it is more natural to take a light pen and just point into the direction of a desired object compared to using a device that you have to drag across the desktop to move a pointer on the screen that’ll point at the desired object. Why are pens a peripheral that became known only recently? Did the evolution of pens and tablets finally make it possible to popularize these devices? Or could it be that humans finally adapted technologically, which allows them to interact with a computer in a natural way, closer to how they would interact in the physical world.

The History Of The Computer Mouse

The First Mouse (1963)

The journey begins in 1963 with Douglas Engelbart and his colleague, William English, at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in California. This duo perfected devices and systems that made simple the use of computers for common people, including hardware (joysticks, light pens, mouses, etc.) and software (graphical interfaces).

Douglas’s aim was to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of computer interfaces. Therefore, he considered building a tool to handle on-screen objects and navigation.

The original mouse was a wooden block with two metal wheels. It could track movement along the x- and y-axes. The device had a single button on top, which helped select items on the computer screen. This mouse design is known as the "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System". This design set the foundation for the mouse's future evolution.

In 1968, Engelbart revealed the first computer mouse, which was a part of his groundbreaking "Mother of All Demos" presentation. It was a significant move to make a change in human-computer interaction. The presentation premiered technologies that today are very well known., including videoconferencing, teleconferencing, hypertext and text processing.

Just to put in perspective the kind of genius we’re talking about, just 4 years ago with the COVID-19 pandemic many people was force to get used to video calls, many people didn’t know how to do this. Douglas was working in these concepts in 1963, that’s 61 years ago! He was 61 years ahead of us. Imagine what it was like to come to a conference and find a guy talking to another guy through a computer, what kind of witchcraft? Throw him alive on the bonfire! Okay, it wasn't the Middle Ages anymore but still, it must have been impressive to see this type of technology in those times.

The Ball Mouse (1972)

As mentioned above, the mouse wasn’t the first input device invented, the trackball was invented before. In 1972 Bill English, inspired by the technology of the already existing trackballs, replaced Douglas’s metal wheels with the ball technology.

Many of us used modern versions of these technology during our childhood, and those who’s age is starting to show, might remember that the little ball could get stuck and so you’d need to take out the ball, blow the mouse to get any dirt out and put the little ball back in so you could continue working. Oooh, the good old days!

Computer Mouse Goes Mainstream (1970s - 1980s)

In 1973, Xero Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) developed the Xero Alto, the first personal computer to be distributed with a mouse and use the “desktop metaphor” with a graphical user interface, concepts introduced by Douglas Engelbart.

In 1981, Xerox presented the Xerox Star Workstation or 8010 Star Information System. Following the example of its predecessor, the Xerox Alto, it was the first commercial computer to use the nowadays mainstream technology that all commercial computers come with, including a bit-mapped display, graphical user interface, icons, mouse, ethernet, and many others.

The many personal computers to come, from all the competitors, were certainly influenced by the tech that Xerox’s commercial computers came with.

In 1983, Microsoft released the first Microsoft Word which featured mouse support in a “What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)” interface. WYSIWYG editors allowed users to manipulate their documents without having to type any commands. This Word release boosted consumer mouse adoption.

The Signalling Switch (1980s)

In 1980, there was a transition from mechanical mice to optical technology. It was indeed a significant shift in the 1980s. In this Era, the Optical mice utilized sensors and light sources, which were handy for tracking movement.

Thus, it was easy to eliminate the necessity of a physical ball. Also, this Era saw the development of optical sensors and programmable logic arrays. Therefore, it added more reliability for the users, including a cleaner mouse tracking experience.

Optical Mice (1980s-1990s)

Optical mice became famous in the 1980s as they represented the departure from the mechanical components of earlier designs. The replacement of the ball technology helped improve the precision rate and reduce maintenance.

The logic behind the technology of optical sensors is that they can track movement without the necessity of a specially patterned surface. Thus, the optical mouse's compatibility with the current mechanical designs helped create a smooth transition across the market and a considerable advancement.

Wireless Mice (Early 2000s)

In the early 2000s, the wireless mice came into the industry. It was put forth based on technologies like Bluetooth. Thus, it was helpful to eliminate the cords' necessity, which gave users greater flexibility.

However, during the initial days, this innovation was powered by batteries. But later on, it faced a couple of iterations and had the integration of rechargeable batteries.

Therefore, wireless mice turned out to be popular. The advantages of wireless mice were the ease of use, convenience for users, and freedom of movement. It was creating a new dimension, paving the way to enhance user interaction.

Buttons (Throughout Evolution)

Did the number of buttons in the mouse face an evolution? Yes, the number of buttons on a mouse has been a subject of continuous evolution. During the initial days, it had the feature of a single button. But over time, mice incorporated the option to include additional buttons to enhance the functionality.

Also, some mice had scroll wheels, which enhanced the user's usability and easy navigation through documents and websites. With evolution, the innovators understood that the various buttons and their functionalities were crucial considerations in analyzing the mouse design.

Current Era (21st Century)

In the current Era, the mouse has become a sophisticated and customizable input device. Nowadays, the standard technology in mice is laser technology. It offers precise tracking and adaptability to various surfaces. The Modern mice include innovative features like programmable buttons, touchpads, and ergonomic designs.

We can see unique innovations, such as Apple's Magic Mouse with gesture-based text input, Microsoft's Arc mouse with a bendable design, and more! These innovations depict the ongoing efforts by innovators to enhance user experience and adapt to the diverse needs of users in a practical approach.

Impact Of The Computer Mouse Throughout History

The development and advancement of the computer mouse have revolutionized the history of computing, human-computer interaction, and personal computer development.

The mouse's influence can be observed under many dimensions as follows:

Apple Lisa. Little Apple Museum. Álvaro Ibáñez from Madrid, Spain, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
• Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs): The mouse's origin significantly contributed to the evolution of graphical user interfaces. It enabled users to communicate with computers through natural gestures, such as pointing, clicking, and dragging, replacing the command line interface. Thus, it stood as a dominating point in early computing. GUIs became a great norm in operating systems, making computers more friendly to users.
• Improved Navigation and Interaction: The mouse significantly improved digital navigation. Users could work with objects on the screen, choose items, and move through documents and programs faster. This advancement in interaction also made computing more user-friendly and led to increased productivity.
• Hypertext and Internet Growth: The mouse significantly created hypertext systems where users could traverse and link information effortlessly on computer screens. This innovation was central to the development of the internet as it made it easier to organize and retrieve online details. Thus, the ability to get around on web pages became natural, which laid the foundation for the digital world we interact with today.
• Commercialization and Widespread Adoption: The commercialization of the mouse by companies such as Xerox and its embracement by Apple in the 1980s made it possible for the mouse to be widely integrated into personal computers. However, widespread adoption aided in the standardization of the mouse as a primary instrument in personal computing.
• Advancements in Personal Productivity: The mouse significantly contributed to developing individual productivity applications. Point, click, and drag functionality allowed the creation and manipulation of documents and data from word processors to spreadsheets. The mouse was incorporated into applications that allowed users to perform tasks quickly and efficiently.
• Expansion into Specialized Software: The possibilities of the mouse went beyond the basic productivity applications to influence the development of more complex software. The mouse proved to greatly help in graphic design, video editing, gaming programs, and other complex graphical applications. This step taken into niche software demonstrated the versatility and capability of the mouse as an input device.
• Technological Evolution: With time, the mouse developed technologically, moving from mechanical designs to optical and laser technologies. These developments improved the tracking accuracy and expanded the scope of surfaces on which the mouse could operate. The advent of wireless mice also added to the ease of use and flexibility.
• Influence on Input Device Design: The mouse's success shaped subsequent input devices' development. The mouse's success in providing a natural and intuitive means of interacting with computers has inspired the creation of touch screens, trackpads, and other pointing devices. The influence of the mouse can be seen in the continuous innovation and development of input devices.

Noteworthy Milestones

• Douglas Engelbart was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000 for his pioneering work, which included the development of the computer mouse.
• Xerox Corporation commercialized the mouse in the 1970s, but it was only with the launch of the Macintosh computer in 1984 that it became popular.
• In the 1980s, optical mice were introduced and eliminated the need for a ball, providing a cleaner and more accurate tracking method.
• The 21st Century saw the rise of wireless mice, powered by innovations such as Bluetooth.
• The success of smartphones and tablets added multi-touch input to the range of interaction options alongside traditional mice and keyboards.

Final Thoughts

Today, for most users, would be extremely difficult to work on a command-line based system, thanks to the tireless research and innovation of Douglas Engelbart, who was primarily concerned with making human-computer interaction as simple as possible and who effectively achieved his goal, today we interact with our devices in a very efficient way. On a daily basis, we jump from device to device, from our laptop to our tv, from our phone to our gaming console, from any device to any device and we don’t even stop to think on how to do this because the bases of human-computer interaction were set a couple decades ago and it only keeps improving, making it a natural for humans to go trough the day interacting with all the tech available on our daily life without thinking about it.

Thank you, Douglas!