Computer mouse inventor "Doug Engelbart " may Rest in Peace

Computer mouse inventor “ Doug  Engelbart  “ is no more between us. He was born on 30 January 1925 inPortland, Oregon, to a radio repairman father and a housewife mother.The  88  year old 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.The American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer died peacefully on  Tuesday night on his bed while sleeping.
His daughter, Christina, notified the state's Computer History Museum of his death  through  an email. He was facing heath problems from early days and had been in  poor health  condition.How to Increase YouTubeBuffering Speed

His Works and Life

He studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University and served as a radar technician during World War II.He then worked at Nasa's successor, Naca, as an electrical engineer, but soon left to pursue a doctorate at University of California, Berkeley.

His interest in how computers could be used to aid human’s ability eventually led him to Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and then his own laboratory, the Augmentation Research Center. “We will miss his genius, warmth and charm,” said Curtis R. Carlson, the CEO of SRI International, where Engelbart used to work. “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.” 

The easygoing Engelbart had brave ideas. Long before Apple founder Steve Jobs became famous for his striking presentations, Engelbart amazed the industry at a San Francisco computer conference in 1968. Working from his house with a homemade modem, he used his lab’s elaborate new online system to illustrate his ideas to the audience, while his staff linked in from the lab. In the legendary presentation which is now called “mother of all demos”, the first public demonstration of the mouse and video teleconferencing was made and it driven a standing great reception.  ARPANet    was developed through his lab that led to the Internet.Top 10 Best Android Phones

Dr Engelbart's first ever mouse demonstration

Great invention but not much profit

Engelbart developed mouse in early 1960s  and patented in 1970 but since Apple’s revolutionary  Macintoshcomputer came into reality in 1984 only then mouse  become commercially available. Engelbart invented the mouse so early in the evolution of computers that he and his colleagues didn’t profit much from it. The technology passed into the public domain in 1987, preventing him from collecting royalties on the mouse when it was in its widest use. At least 1 billion have been sold since the mid-1980s.

Awards and Recognition

The book  “As We May Think”  inspired him of a  machine that would aid human cognition and was driven by the belief that computers could be used to enhance human brains.

In 1997, Engelbart won the most lucrative award for American inventors, the $500,000  Lemelson-MIT Prize  and the “National Medal of Technology for "creating the foundations of personal computing" in 2000.

Engelbart later earned his Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley, but after joining the faculty, he was warned by a colleague that if he kept talking about his “wild ideas”, he will remain an acting assistant professor forever. So he left for the Stanford Research Institute, now SRI International.

Engelbart is survived by his wife, Karen O’Leary Engelbart and his four children -Diana, Norman, Greda and Christina and nine grandchildren.How to Make Windows 8 Faster