Sunday 14 December 2008

Happy belated birthday !!! ..... my mouse :)

Apparently on the 9th December 40 years ago, the humble mouse made it's début and changed the way computing was thought of forever, and will probably continue to be used for many years even with the advent of touch screens and voice recognition, and yes the picture above is one of those early mice.... more of a brick with the corners knocked off than something which fits your hand ergonomically, and yes it attached to a serial DB25 connector before we went DB9 and years before PS/2 or USB, I'm amazed sometimes how PC technicians today use the word PS/2 but don't realise that it was a model of computer which IBM manufactured back in the late 80's early 90's, and that it was they who coined the phrase "the PS/2 connector", prior to that we used the DIN standard......

It seems strange to think that there are kids today who have grown up with computers and can't think of what life used to be like without them and yet my generation and the one before saw their birth and proliferation over the years, to such an extent that there isn't a passing moment where we don't come into contact with them.

Cash Machines
Chip and Pin
Mobile Phones
Wristwatches
DVR's
Satellite boxes

even some of our household goods have astounding computing power, but lets take the not so humble mobile phone which everybody and his dog has these days, it's amazing to think that there is more computing power in a modern mobile phone than the computers that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon (unless of course you disbelieve they ever went, but there is room for everybody on this planet..... even the really mad loopy ones ;¬) )

Anyway I just thought I would mark the event because it's up there with sliced bread and electric toothbrushes !!! :)

all hail the humble mouse :)

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