madison
ie8 fix

Photos: Marking 40 years of 'personal' computing

Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of a day that should mean a lot if you enjoy the interactivity of your machine.

by
First computer mouse

The mouse that Douglas Engelbart and SRI's chief engineer, Bill English, demonstrated to 1,000 people in San Francisco 40 years ago. Click on the image above for more photos.

(Credit: Stanford Research Institute)

If you use a computer, it's almost certain you owe some thanks for the "personal" nature of the device to Douglas Engelbart. Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of a day that should mean a lot if you enjoy the interactivity of your machine.

On December 9, 1968, Engelbart, director of Stanford Research Institute's Augmentation Research Center, wowed the computing world with a presentation in which he unveiled, for the first time, the work he and his SRI team had been doing.

Among the innovations Engelbart showed that day in San Francisco were the world's first mouse, the first hyperlinks, and the first navigable windows. And though it's a long way from that presentation to your laptop, the bloodline is clear. Click here to see more photos from a day that changed computing forever.

Don't Miss

CNET Conversations
Driving into the future at VW's Electronics Research Lab
CNET editor at large Brian Cooley goes behind the scenes with Peter Oel, director of Volkswagen Electronics Research Lab, to show you how Silicon Valley is changing the way we drive, from the latest in infotainment systems to new 3D technologies being used for design.
Play Video
  • Recently Viewed Products
  • My Lists
  • My Software Updates
  • Promo
  • Log In | Join CNET