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@teajaygrey@snac.bsd.cafe

2025-03-23 18:16 UTC

A minor correction: Bill English invented the mouse. I knew him and Doug personally and Doug did not appreciate the common incorrect attribution given that Bill and Doug were collaborators. There was an iOS re-implementation of the chorded keyset utilized by early NLS systems maybe around 2010? Unfortunately it long since fell into bit rot and is not in the Apple Store anymore. SRI had cross licensing arrangements with SAIL (Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab) and Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) so a lot of the inheritance mentioned on the Alto later in the thread was sanctioned. Similarly, a number of researchers matriculated from PARC to Apple (e.g. Alan Kay) who also licensed the mouse from SRI.

Replies (2)

  • @ricmac@mastodon.social 2025-03-23 18:30

    @teajaygrey I interviewed Bill English in 2014 and he told me more about the invention of the mouse: https://cybercultural.com/p/the-first-web-developer/

    Open ##1442863

  • @kenshirriff@oldbytes.space 2025-03-23 18:35

    @teajaygrey It's a complex situation. It doesn't help that according to the patent, Engelbart invented the mouse. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3541541A

    Open ##1442864