In 1968, Douglas Engelbart and his team held a presentation at SRI that was called the “Mother of All Presentations”. The presentation was important because it completely changed people’s perception of computers and laid the foundation for modern computer technology.
In the presentation, Engelbart demonstrated the graphical user interface (GUI) for the first time, including windows, icons, and menus. These designs made computer operations intuitive and easy to understand, and became the core of later operating systems. He also publicly demonstrated the use of the mouse for the first time. This device completely changed the way people interact with computers and became an indispensable input tool for computers.
In addition, Engelbart proposed the concept of hypertext, connecting different documents together through links, an idea that directly influenced the development of the Internet. He also demonstrated the possibility of remote collaboration, enabling multiple people to edit and share documents in real time through computer networks, which was a very advanced concept at the time.
In general, this presentation not only demonstrated a number of revolutionary technologies, but also foreshadowed the widespread application of computers in the future society. It showed us that computers are not just computing tools, but can also become important assistants for human collaboration and innovation. It was this presentation that paved the way for today’s digital world.