In The Mother of All Demos, Douglas Engelbart and his team demonstrated several innovative technologies. Among them, the use of the mouse was made public for the first time in the world, allowing users to handle multiple tasks at the same time, laying the foundation for modern operating systems. In addition to the mouse, they introduced graphical user interfaces, hypertext linking, and collaborative document editing, all of which are now fundamental aspects of computing. Their demonstration also showcased real-time video conferencing and remote file sharing, highlighting the potential of remote communication and becoming the pioneer of tools such as Zoom and Teams today.
In the 1960s, computers were mainly used in military, scientific, and enterprise computing, often requiring specialized knowledge to operate. Douglas Engelbart proposed a revolutionary idea: computers should not just be number-crunching machines but a tool to enhance human intelligence. He envisioned a future where computers could assist individuals in solving complex problems, increasing productivity, and improving collaboration. Through this demonstration, he showed how computers can help people improve their ability to organize, store, and process information, thus completely changing the application direction of computers.