One of the first computer mice sold. The buyer paid almost PLN 180,000. dollars

An extremely rare copy of a computer mouse went under the hammer in the US and quickly found a new owner. The buyer for a set containing one of the first produced mice had to pay exactly $ 178,936, or almost $ 785,000. zlotys.

One of the first computer mice sold for $180,000 dollars

The aforementioned mouse is the work of Douglas Engelbart, an American scientist and inventor who in 1968 conducted the famous presentation “The Mother of All Demos”. Engelbart was the first to present the operation of the oN-Line System, a complete computer system developed by SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) and financed, among others, by by NASA and the US Air Force.

During the presentation, Engelbart’s team created and showed many innovative ideas that became the basis for the solutions used today. These were e.g. windows, hypertext, graphics, word processor, screen sharing mechanism, videoconferencing and the aforementioned computer mouse.

It was one of the first ready-made devices of this type (the first prototype of this mouse was created in 1960, which is why Douglas Engelbart is considered the creator of the mouse), which was used in practice during the presentation. The device was equipped with two metal wheels that rotated when moved, sending information about the required movement of the pointer to the computer.

The auctioned copy also has three buttons and is one set with a miniature “keyboard” containing another five buttons. As we read on the auction site, the invention allowed to enter commands with 31 combinations of clicks. The auction house explains that the dirt and visible signs of wear are the result of intensive work for which the mouse was used.

The set belonged to David A. Potter, who came into his possession while working on Engelbart’s research team at SRI International. A letter of ownership signed by him along with the mouse have already been sent to the new owner.