The Mouse

The mouse has become an extension of the hand. It is a fundamental intermediary between you and the computer. Designed and perfected by Douglas Engelbart and Bill English in 1963, the mouse was improved by Xerox in 1970. It was popularised by Apple at the beginning of the 1980s, but it was the
PC that made it universal with the arrival of Windows. When the mouse was designed, it was only as part of an ambitious project aimed at improving human intelligence. As its inventor said during
a famous interview: ‘At the time, I had been working for 12 years on different ways of helping people increase their capacity for solving complex problems. We had envisaged getting them to work on
problem-solving programs on workstations. This assumed that it was possible for them to interact with the displayed information by using an accessory capable of moving the cursor on screen. Several
solutions already existed, such as graphic pens and joysticks, etc.

Figure 1. (a) Douglas Engelbart; (b) the first mouse, assembled by Bill English.

In order to carry out his tests, Engelbart managed to secure the support of NASA. While the mouse did better than the trackball and joystick, it lost out by a whisker to another accessory, which was even faster… and knee-operated! The mouse also suffered from another crippling fault: without gravity, it floated in space. In the end, Engelbart perfected the prototype of the mouse with
the help of his collaborator Bill English. It was very simple, with two wheels for drawing straight vertical and horizontal lines. It was not possible to move directly in a diagonal direction.

Since its conception, the mouse has enjoyed three decades of development. Its technology as well as its appearance has been considerably improved. In everyday life, it has replaced the pen, felt-tip and pencil. An extension of the hand, it has become an established feature of the Western world.

There are several different kinds of mouse (Figure 2). The quality of a mouse lies in its sensitivity, resolution and movement, and the number of buttons (usually two or three).

Figure 2 . Three models of mouse.

Source : 

Book : "A simple guide to Using Your Computer " by Manon Cassade, Michel Dreyfus, Gilles Fouchard, Linda Steven, Rob Young.