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The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men: The Computer Mouse in the History of Computing.

The article examines the role of the computer mouse in shaping social and technological worlds by discussing its history, development use in the computer industry. As a researcher at the Stanford Research Institute in 1957, Douglas C. Engelbert conceptualized the idea of the mouse as a piece of equi...

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Published in:Design Issues Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 46 - 62
Main Author: Atkinson, Paul
Format: Article
Published: MIT Press Summer2007
Subjects:
Mice (Computers)
Computer peripherals
Computer equipment
User interfaces
Popular culture
Computer systems
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article examines the role of the computer mouse in shaping social and technological worlds by discussing its history, development use in the computer industry. As a researcher at the Stanford Research Institute in 1957, Douglas C. Engelbert conceptualized the idea of the mouse as a piece of equipment used to measure the area of a two-dimensional chart. His colleague Bill English created the original prototype of Engelbert's device. Later on, the mouse's development became intertwined with the development of the graphical user interface and computer technology. The device also became an artifact in popular culture.