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50 years ago, 'the mother of all demos' foretold our tech future
Innovation usually happens in slow, measured steps over many years, but a demo in 1968 transformed the world of personal computers in just 90 minutes. In a presentation dubbed "the mother of all demos," Douglas Engelbart showed off technology that would lead directly to Apple's Macintosh, the internet, Windows, Google Docs, the computer mouse and much, much more. The most insane part was that it happened 50 years ago in 1968, when microchips were just a gleam in scientists' eyes.
Computing UI visionary Douglas Engelbart passes away at age 88
The computing world lost one of its great minds and true pioneers yesterday. Douglas Engelbart passed away at age 88, just over a half-century after he joined the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) -- the place where much of his ground-breaking computing research would take place. Among his (and his research team's) many inventions made at SRI are the mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext, networked computers and elements of a modern, windowed GUI. Should you be among those unfamiliar with his work, we've included a video of his epic and appropriately named "Mother of All Demos" that he gave in 1968 to introduce many of his computational contributions to the world. Tip of the cap, Mr. Engelbart. You will be missed, but assuredly not forgotten.
