Next Tuesday, the computer mouse turns 40

Invented by a team of researchers led by Doug Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in California in 1968, computer’s most dynamic input device, the “mouse”, has entered into its 40s on Tuesday.Just a few years before it became an essential part of the personal computing world.

Engelbart first started making notes for the mouse in 1961, after deciding that he could do better than the standard gadget, a light pen which had been used on radar systems during the Second World War. 'We had a big heavy tracking ball - it was like a cannonball,' he said. 'We had several gadgets that ended up with pivots you could move around. We had a light panel you had to hold up right next to the screen so the computer could see it. And a joystick that you wiggle around to try to steer things.

The very first computer mouse, which was invented 40 years ago

The first-ever mouse was made from a wooden block with wheels mounted on its base, and featured a red button on top of its case, and a cable at its back, which probably made one of the researchers to nickname it as “mouse”.

The mouse now faces unprecedented competition. Laptops which make no use of a mouse are an increasingly popular alternative to desktop computers for workers on the move. Apple's popular iPhone and Nintendo's Wii have shown the potential for touchscreens and movement sensors. HP is pushing a mouse-less TouchSmart PC. Microsoft has invested millions of dollars in a coffee table-shaped 'Surface' computer which responds to natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects

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