Music Technology in Education

Douglas Engelbart from Stanford Research Institute unveiled the first ever PC (complete with a mouse) on this date in 1968 to a crowd of nearly 1,000 at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. Widely known as the “Mother of all Demos” Engelbart showed off his invention to a stunned crowd who were literally witnessing history. At the time of the demonstration, both Steve Jobs (Apple) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) were in their early teens. It is amazing to me that Engelbart did not achieve the same incredible fame and fortune as those who would capitalize on his invention. In fact, I didn’t even know his name until few years ago while reading a fascinating book on the history of computers published by MIT Press.

Wired.com has a terrific article that traces the history of Engelbart’s invention and includes a great slideshow showing the evolution of the mouse. I was reminded of this momentous event while driving to work this morning to the company which I run that owes almost all of it’s success to Engelbart’s invention. So many others also owe their livelihood’s to the PC as well. I hope that Engelbart’s names gets the recognition that it so richly deserves. Perhaps no other invention of the 20th Century has had a greater impact on society and our collective future in the 21st Century. Happy Birthday to the PC, and here’s to many more!

I welcome your questions and comments.