I believed that Douglas Engelbart’s 1968 demo was revolutionary to the world because it introduced technologies that we now use in every day lives, like the computer mouse and graphical user interfaces. Before this demo, computers were largely not easy to access and complex, requiring users to type commands on a blank screen. Engelbart’s vision, though, was for computers to enhance human thinking, making them intuitive tools to help solve problems. Seeing the mouse in action for the first time was a turning point, it was so simple and easy to use, but it opened up an entirely new way of interacting with technology.

I think that what really strikes me is that Engelbart seems like wasn’t just thinking about computers as machines; he saw them as tools to connect people. His demo of collaborative work over a network, and even video conferencing, seems like an early version of what we use today in everything from Zoom calls to shared Google Docs. This influenced people massively. It shows that Engelbart’s ideas were way ahead of their time, and the technologies he demonstrated have really shaped how we communicate and collaborate in the digital age. It makes me realize how visionary thinkers can change the entire course of technology with ideas that seem small but are actually effective and transformative.