Douglas C. Engelbart, Inventor of the Computer Mouse, Passes Away

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Douglas C. Engelbart, Inventor of the Computer Mouse, Passes Away

engine

1:26 pm on Jul 4, 2013 (gmt 0)

I find it surprising that he didn't make any money from his invention. I guess it was too far ahead of its time.

The inventor of the computer mouse, Doug Engelbart, has died aged 88.

Engelbart developed the tool in the 1960s as a wooden shell covering two metal wheels, patenting it long before the mouse's widespread use.

He also worked on early incarnations of email, word processing and video teleconferences at a California research institute.Inventor of Computer Mouse Passes Away [bbc.co.uk]

lucy24

9:23 pm on Jul 4, 2013 (gmt 0)

The trick is to patent it five minutes before someone else invents it. Otherwise you risk having the patent expire before anyone ever finds a use for it.

Didn't Tesla similarly get laughed out of Washington when he first proposed radar?

johnhh

9:34 pm on Jul 4, 2013 (gmt 0)

Radar ? a British invention - Sir Robert Watson-Watt, although Heinrich Hertz in Germany discovered the principle and Doppler's work was important too.
The mouse? great invention - way ahead of his time !