At a time when computing was only used by government researchers, a computer scientist Douglas C. Engelbart laid out a vision of internet. He invented the computer mouse and presented the mouse before an audience of 1,000 leading technologists in San Francisco at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). He was also the originator of interactive computing.
Engelbart who set the very foundation of personal computing and the Internet died of acute kidney failure at his California home. He was 88 and died peacefully in his sleep.
Curtis R Carlson, President & CEO, SRI, said, "Doug was a giant who made the world a much better place and who deeply touched those of us who knew him. Doug's legacy is immense - anyone in the world who uses a mouse or enjoys the productive benefits of a personal computer is indebted to him," Carlson said.
Engelbart was born on January 30, 1925 in Portland to a radio repairman father and a homemaker mother. Engelbart arrived at his crowning moment relatively early in his career, on December 9, 1968, when he delivered an hour-long presentation containing so many farreaching ideas. Engelbart's innovative ideas on that day helped him to be known as the "mother of all demos", decades after.
The mouse was popularized by Xerox PARC and Apple, which began to ship the mouse with the Apple's Lisa in 1983.
