How the mouse points us to the future
Melbourne's 'The Age' reviews the past, present and future of the humble mouse, "the incredibly simple tool that translated a user's physical hand movements to virtual onscreen gestures". Douglas Engelbart's original prototype at the Stanford Research Institute in California in 1963 had two external wheels that translated the X-Y position into an electrical signal that moved an onscreen cursor. Bill English (of Xerox PARC facility fame) improved on Engelbart's design by moving the sensors to the inside of the mouse. Since then, the mouse has changed quite dramatically, with Apple's Mighty Mouse and Logitech's top-of-the-range MX Revolution on the scene. Mice now have foot covers and have lost their tails, They can have 1, 2, 3, or 4 buttons and a scroll wheel, or two. Out are rubber balls in in are LEDs. But now the Mark I finger seems to be taking over again, from track pads to touch screens. "It's natural, obvious and smells of the future." Source: The Age, 3 September 2009. tinyurl.com/nmfgor
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