Whether for playing role-playing games, shooters and the like, or for daily work on the PC, the computer mouse is a loyal and often inconspicuous companion for us. But where did the mouse get its name from?
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Why is the mouse actually called a mouse?
The Microsoft Mouse from 1983 (Image source: Microsoft).
There are two plausible theories about this:
- Appearance: The first computer mice for the mass market appeared in the early 1980s. For example, Microsoft introduced its first mouse in 1983. It cost an impressive 195 dollars, is beige-gray and has two striking buttons that look like eyes due to their positioning and the contrast to the rest of the device. The design is typical of the time. Together with the cable, the devices actually look a bit like real rodents, even if their tails don’t normally grow out of their necks.
- Behavior: Mice are very nimble and, from our point of view, can change direction almost abruptly. Exactly like the mouse pointer on the screen can.
It sounds understandable that the behavior of the mouse pointer influenced the naming, but it is not correct. Rather, the name mouse goes back to the inventor or builder of the first computer mouse. However, since the introduction of the first Macintosh in 1984 at the latest, the term has become generally accepted.
The invention of the mouse
The very first conceptual mention of the mouse was almost 56 years ago: William English mentioned them in his 1965 publication Computer-Aided Display Control
. He was an engineer and part of a team around Douglas Engelbart, who is now considered the inventor of the mouse.
The first computer mouse. (Image source: Wikipedia)
The invention (first technical drawings) itself dates back to 1963. In the following year, English joined in and constructed a first prototype which, in contrast to mice commonly used today, had the cable on the rear side (i.e. towards the forearm) and thus showed a great visual resemblance to real rodents. Engelbart and English therefore opted for the name mouse
decided, contrary to Engelbart’s original idea, the input device Bug
to baptize.
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The builder of the first computer mouse died
It became official to the public XY positioning indicator for a screen system
called input device presented at the end of 1968 as part of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS). The functionality is based according to one Patent from 1970 on two wheels, each responsible for the X and Y coordinates, and a switch on the top.
1971 William English left Engelbart’s team and founded the company Xerox, with which he developed a ball mouse. The principle of the ball mice was only to determine the market for the following decades after the technology was licensed by Apple in the early 1980s.
Part of the mouse was invented in Europey
The basic idea behind the ball mouse, in turn, goes back to the Europe inventor Rainer Mallebrein, who created the so-called Rollkugelsteuerung
developed. It was also presented in 1968, but two months before Engelbart’s mouse.
