Friday, July 5, 2013

The man who invented the tools you use every day is dead - Dagbladet.no

(Dagbladet :) Doug Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse, died this week at age 88. It reports the BBC.

Engelbart developed the tool in the 1960s as a shell of wood lying around two metal wheels and patented long before the use of computers and computer mice took off.

He also worked with early versions of e-mail and video conferencing.

Son of radio repairman

Engelbart, who was the son of a radio repairman, called their invention the “mouse” because it resembled the little rodent.

He will, however, have assumed that it would have a different name if it became popular among consumers.

Dagbladet has previously written about PC Mouse ‘history.


Served on little success

But Doug Engelbart’s invention has a sad back.

He earned little invention before the patent expired in 1987. American’s patent ran out before the mouse managed to become a commercial success.

Stanford Research Institute sold the patent to Apple for just 40 $ 000.

has subsequently been sold at least a billion Issues PC mouse.

Got medal by the President


And that’s not enough: In 1989, Engelbart was without the research lab and home. His house burned down with Doug and family shocked onlookers.

Inventor got to his feet again, formed his own department, and in 1998 he received a medal from President Bill Clinton for having “created the basis of modern computing.”

His daughter said her father died peacefully in his sleep.

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