3 ms·
Yeah. But even Wikipedia got it wrong. Sun had optical mice in the 1980's and you could get a version for the PC from Hewlett Packard in 1997 that used an IR
by drakaal 13y ago
Yeah.
But even Wikipedia got it wrong. Sun had optical mice in the 1980's and you could get a version for the PC from Hewlett Packard in 1997 that used an IR sensor.
This paper talks about the history of mice, and mentions that optical mice started in 1981. (though they required a special mouse pad)
http://genevalunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/145378.pdf http://genevalunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/145378.pdf
- xxgreg 13y agoI remember using one of those mid nineties - I think is was a Sun workstation. It had a metallic mouse pad with a grid pattern etched into it.
- Nursie 13y agoYeah, we had these Sun ones in the lab at university back in '96(ish). They'd probably been there a few years even then. 'Course they were reliant on the special mat, and the mat had to be oriented correctly. I suppose you might say they weren't really a consumer offering though, which the article mentions. The price of Sun systems kept them in business ajd education facilities.
- wfraser 13y agoI'm guessing that's what the Wikipedia article means by "modern": able to work on most any surface, not just a special mat.
- epo 13y agoAccording to http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/xerox/star8010.shtml http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/xerox/star8010.shtml Xerox had an optical mouse in 1981, I know for sure it had one in 1985 because that was when I was using them.
- gdubs 13y agoThere were three button optical mice on many SGI workstations too, if I recall