April 27,1987 The mouse was given to the world!

On April 27, 1981, an invention was introduced that forever changed how we interact with our personal computers, the mouse.

To live in a world where we do not have the ability to point and click, scroll, or highlight and copy and paste text using just one finger is no world I want to live in; however, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) made the transition from keyboard only commands to a point and click world possible.

Interestingly, the first mouse-like device was invented by Douglas Englebart in 1964 as an experimental pointing device. The integration into a personal computer revolutionized the user’s interaction with the graphical user interface (GUI) of the software. This allowed for more ease of access and a consumer-friendly experience. The mouse debuted with the launch of the Xerox Star workstation, and computer users have not looked back since.

Although the mouse has been through many iterations, from a trackball to laser tracking, it still is at the heart of the computer user interface.

Therefore, we can all take a moment and thank the Xerox corporation for making gaming, work, and Amazon shopping that much easier and efficient for generations to come.

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Author: Canan Schuman, PharmD/PhD

Canan Schumann is Chief Editor for Axxiem and for Axxiem's blog "BiotechOntheWeb". When not writing for Axxiem, Canan works as a Clinical Research Scientist II at the Research and Development Department at Molecular Testing Labs, developing endpoint assays for the detection of infectious disease and cancer. Canan currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where he received his Honors Bachelor of Science (HBS), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD.), and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biopharmaceutics at Oregon State University.