Happy 35th Birthday to the Microsoft Mouse
A lot of great things happened in 1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was number two on the Billboard top 100, the average cost of a new house was $82,600, Return of the Jedi was released (I mean, what kid didn’t want to use The Force?), and I was either pretending to be Rocky or playing Whiffle Ball in our cul-de-sac. What I didn’t know at the time is how much the creation of Microsoft's first PC compatible mouse that year would impact my future. In many ways, I owe my life's work to this pioneering piece of hardware.
The Microsoft Mouse shipped exactly 35 years ago on May 2, 1983. It was the day the hardware division of the company was born. The "green-eyed" mouse came bundled with Microsoft Word, Notepad, a programmable interface driver for developers, and a tutorial on how to use it.
Not many realized it back then, but that mouse was an indicator, one that was hard to see in those early days, of how hardware would evolve to enhance and create new experiences for people. It was a piece of hardware designed for and with the software to maximize productivity and creativity.
Over the years we saw mice continue to progress and enhance experiences. The creation of the scroll wheel changed the way people use the internet. Browsing online became more fluid and intuitive.
When I came to Microsoft, two decades after the Microsoft Mouse launched, it was to make mice and keyboards. Since then it’s been amazing to see how passionate our customers are about mice, as we saw when we brought back the much-loved IntelliMouse. By the time I joined the company the Microsoft Mouse and its descendants, including the IntelliMouse, were a part of my product making DNA, and they still exist in the DNA of many of our creations.
Much of the hardware our team makes is inexorably tied to this mouse and the way it changed how we think about hardware and software. From Surface Pen to HoloLens, each device, accessory, and console we design, develop, and ship is built around the premise of cloud, software, and hardware coming together seamlessly. It seems only fitting for me to pay homage to the product that started us on a fantastic journey 35 years ago.
Happy Birthday, Microsoft Mouse.
Retired Electrical and Electronics Engineer - Former Chief Engineer at International Cospas-Sarsat Programme
6 年The computer mouse was my idea in the year 1960 when I was in first grade Elementary School in Istanbul, Turkey. Also, I was the first person to double-click a computer mouse for country and mankind, in the year 1983. And, I called it the "Open Sesame function".
Pr Eng / Multidiciplinary Engineer
6 年Still have mine somewhere in original box!
Principal Engineer at large company
6 年origins of the computer mouse: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/origins-computer-mouse/
Teacher 1 at Ministry of Education,Trinidad&Tobago
6 年you see all the discussion that has sprung forth from one simple comment on the mouse's birthday?All have failed to see the good in the "mouse",it's utility,it's importance in technology,it's beauty,it's help to teachers like me when tests have to be written,copied,evaluated,etc.I don't care who had the mouse first,or second,third,etc.You are all infantile.AI may replace the need for computer mice.Then what will you fight about then?I love the mouse.I wish I had one of that new mouse Microsoft 's exhibiting now.It's ergonomic and it's pretty.I also love Microsoft and Windows.Listen to me,all of you.We need lateral thinking here.I give thanks and praise to the guy who was inspired by the Creator to make the first mouse.Do the needs of one outweigh the needs of many?Let's put an end to the 'mouse bashing now!Grow up all of you. Hasta luego !