Today in the 80′s

The computer mouse is released

XEROX PARC introduces the Xerox Star computer. Unlike other computers at the time, there is something unique about this one. It includes a graphical user interface (GUI). To operate this GUI, the computer also comes with something called a mouse.

The name mouse, originated at the Stanford Research Institute, derives from the resemblance of early models (which had a cord attached to the rear part of the device, suggesting the idea of a tail) to the common mouse.

The mouse remained relatively obscure until the appearance of the Apple Macintosh; in 1984 a prominent PC columnist commented the release of this new computer with a mouse: “There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”

Logitech just built its billionth mouse in November 2008.