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Douglas Englebart- A Technology Trailblazer
Douglas Englebart has always been thought of as a man with a mind before his
time. As early as the 1960’s Englebart began filling the technological world with ideas of
computers being used for everyday life by everyday people. He also believed that
computers would one day be able to do more than just “calculate”. Many people found
Englebart’s ideas to be outlandish and did not support his research. In fact, it was not
until 1963 that Englebart found someone to fund his research. It was at Sanford
University that Douglas Englebart invented what we have come to know as the computer
mouse.1 Engelbart's most famous invention, the computer mouse, which was part of his
augmentation research, is the point and click device used on most, if not all, computer
systems today. And, it is one of the most important input devices, besides the keyboard.
Although invented in 1963, it was not until the 1980’s that the computer mouse debuted
2
Griffin, Scott, “Internet Pioneers: Douglas Englebart”. (Accessed October 10, 2002)
http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/englebart.htm
1
Cheng, Clarence. “ Douglas Englebart and his Technical Innovations”. (accessed October 10, 2002).
http://www.cs.yorku.ca/courses95-96/4361/englebart.html
2
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as an intricate part of a computer system. The mouse debuted as a commercial product
on the 1984 Apple McIntosh Computer.3
Douglas Englebart was born in 1925 in Portland, Oregon. In 1942 he graduated
from high school and attended Oregon State University where he studied electrical
engineering. Englebart’s college career was cut short by WWII but after spending two
years in the Philippines, where he served as a radar tech, Englebart returned to college
and received his degree in 1948. It was Englebart’s time spent as a radar tech that
shaped his future. He emerged from the Philippines with new ideas and a new focus.
Soon after, Englebart enrolled in the graduate program at UC Berkeley where he earned
his Ph.D. After earning his PhD in 1955, Englebart began to work on his ideas of how
computers should be used.
Although Englebart is most famous for inventing the computer mouse, he is also
credited with other inventions in the technological world. Englebart and his colleagues
have also been credited with the development of the On-Line System (NLS), the first
integrated environment for idea processing. The NLS utilized such things as:

hypertext linking

word processing

e-mail

on-line help systems

windows software
3
Badini, Thierry. Stanford University Press. “Bootstrapping: Douglas Englebart, Coevolution
and the Origins of Personal Computing”. 2001. (accessed October 11, 2002).
Mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/reviews/feb2002/bk_BOOTSTRAP_mosher.html
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Englebart’s work has also directly influenced the research done at Xerox’s PRC, which,
in turn, influenced the development of the Apple Computer.
Because of trailblazers such as Douglas Englebart, we are in an age where
technology is at the fingertips of everyone. Things such as online help systems, email,
and word processing are utilized everyday by the average citizen. In fact, many people
do not realize that there was a point in time when there were no computer mice or email
accounts. Due to Douglas Englebart’s genius and determination to get his ideas heard
we are able to communicate with people miles a way. Today, Douglas Englebart is
working at Stanford University, where he is director of the Bootstrap Project. The project
is focused on bringing together computer vendors, developers, and end-users to work in
commonality on the technology that today's rapidly changing world requires.
For those who are not familiar with computer terms, here are a few along with their
definitions.
Terms
Definitions
Mouse
A palm-sized button operated device that
can be slid on wheels or ball bearings over a
desktop to move the cursor on a CRT to any
position.
Electronic mail (email)
A system for sending messages from one
individual to another via telecommunications
links between computers.
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Hypertext
A method of storing data through a
computer program that allows a user to
create and link fields of information at will
and to retrieve the data nonsequentially
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Bibliography
Cheng, Clarence. “Douglas Englebart and his Technical Innovations” (accessed October
10, 2002) http://www.cs.yorku..ca/courses95-96/4361/englebart.html
Griffin, Scott. “Internet Pioneers: Douglas Englebart” Internet Pioneers. (accessed
October 10, 2002). http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/englebart.htm
Tierry,Badini. “Bootstrapping: Douglas Englebart, Coevolution and the Origins of
Personal Computing” Leonardo Digital Reviews. 2002 mitpress2.mit.edu/ejournals/Leonardo/reviews/feb2002/bk_BOOTSTRAP_mosher.html
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