40 Years of The Mouse

By Andrew

Forty years ago today, Stanford Research Institute engineer Douglas Engelbart introduced one of the most revolutionary products of the modern day: the computer mouse. Since its debut, no other computer input device has been more ubiquitous, next to the keyboard. And its existence transformed the computer’s accessibility and user experience, helping to catapult the PC into countless homes around the world.

Carved from a block of wood, the first mouse had just one button with two wheels underneath to record the x and y axises. And while many innovations have been made and thousands of different designs produced, the original idea remains intact in every mouse used to this day. So if you’re drinking (which you should be), raise a glass to this little piece of historic innovation, then click on some porn.

Check out Wired.com‘s “40 Years of Mighty Mice” photo gallery here!

(Image: Wired.com)