Doug Engelbart was the first person to make the computer we are now familiar with. The electronic and mechanical ticking in the Mother of All Demos made me feel like I was back in that time. Doug Engelbart demonstrated how to control the first-generation mouse and computer screen. That’s amazing. We are using the current color and fully functional computers. We don’t know what the imperfection of the first computer looked like. But it has many basic functions that we still use today, such as instructions, file structure, lists, mouse, links, etc. Facing more than a thousand scientists in San Francisco, Doug Engelbart showed a cube device with two rolling wheels. He named the device “Display System X-Y Coordinate Position Indicator”, which was the first public appearance of the mouse. He also had a real-time audio-visual connection with a colleague 30 miles away, the first video conference in the world. Doug Engelbart believes that computers in the future should be optimized for human needs, communication and cooperation. The computer should have a keyboard and screen, and should not punch in or print out. Therefore, he assembled a team and established a working prototype: the oN-Line System, NLS.
IBM has also brought historic changes to mankind, from a machine the size of two refrigerators to a personal computer that can be used at home. Thanks to IBM for surviving the dismal 80s and brought convenience to human life earlier. These inventions and technologies also lay a foundation for interaction design. With the connection between human and computers, an interactive design appears to improve the communication between human and computers. As Doug Engelbart believes, communication and collaboration are optimized for human needs.
