Douglas C. Engelbart
A Profile of His Work and Vision:
Past, Present and Future
Prepared by Logitech
October 2005
Douglas C. Engelbart
A Profile of His Work and Vision: Past, Present and Future - 1
ouglas C. Engelbart is known by most people as the inventor of the computer mouse. But that s akin to defining Michelangelo as a sculptor or calling John
Lennon a singer. The mouse, developed with a small team at
Stanford Research Institute (SRI), represented only one aspect of a much larger vision.
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In the 1950s, Engelbart conjured the revolutionary idea that computers then massive standalone machines dedicated to number crunching could be used as tools for knowledge workers to collect, share, and advance ideas and research. In the
1960s, Engelbart led a team of SRI researchers who developed technologies and capabilities that would help to spawn the personal computing industry as we know it. The center s breakthroughs included on-screen text editing, the interactive user interface, the remote computer network, hyperlinking, and of course, the mouse.
Though he is not a well-known figure in popular culture,
Engelbart has achieved legendary status among the pioneering giants in the PC industry. In 2000, he received the National
Medal of Technology, the nation s highest award for technology innovation, presented by then President Bill Clinton. And in
2005, he was inducted into the Hall of Fellows in the Computer
History Museum, located in Mountain View, Calif.
At the age of 80, Engelbart continues to champion ideas and develop technologies that he believes will help societies to record and grow their collective intelligence. For the past 15
years, he has been running his Bootstrap Institute, located within the Fremont, Calif., headquarters of Logitech. A self-described dreamer, Engelbart maintains a persistent, almost stubborn,
dedication to a life course he set for himself more than a halfcentury ago.
The Hallway to Infinity
Engelbart s lifelong motivation is derived from a single vision he had in a single moment of time. It was a Monday morning in
1950. Engelbart was 25 years old, and he had just become engaged to be married the previous weekend. He was driving to
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