In 1968 Doug Engelbart demonstrated the computersystem he and his team were working with. This famous demo we saw tonight, as a round-up of the day. Doug was life on a video connection (established by Ross Mayfield it seemed) introducing the demo himself.
Great to see how old-fashioned it was, and how modern it is at the same time. Using tv cameras to capture what computers projected on small cathode ray tubes, and then projecting that on computer screens, a mouse (they came up with the name) that looks like some communist Eastern German version of what we use today. But the programme demonstrated had hyperlinks, (joint) text editing, mind mapping, conceptual maps, directory structure, pretty sleek head sets etc. Fun to watch. But 40 years is a really long time for this stuff to get mainstream!
Below two pictures of Doug Engelbart now and then.
dougnow.jpg dougthen.jpg

[UPDATE] Ross Mayfield took pictures of Doug Engelbart during our videochat. On the screen you see us at the venue in Copenhagen, while Doug is talking to us:

Doug Engelbart talking to us at Reboot, image by Ross Mayfield, license CC BY NC

One reaction on “Doug Engelbart Demo

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