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Minor CE in order to make clear that the demo was not the first public display of a computer mouse, as Telefunken offered a ball-based mouse in 1968 already for their computer system. Publications from 1968-10-02 exists, preceeding the MoaD in 1968-12-09.
→Name: changed the title for Saddam
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==Name==
==Name==
Apparently coined in 1994, the retrospective name "The Mother of All Demos" references "The Mother of All Battles," a name used by [[Iraq]]i dictator [[Saddam Hussein]] to describe the 1991 [[Gulf War]]; the term "[[the mother of all]]" subsequently became a widely used [[stock phrase]] or [[snowclone]]. The first use of this name for Engelbart's talk is ascribed to journalist [[Steven Levy]] in his 1994 book, ''Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything'', where he describes the event as "a calming voice from Mission Control as the truly final frontier whizzed before their eyes. It was the mother of all demos."<ref>{{Citation | last = Levy | first = Steven | author-link = Steven Levy | year = 1994 | title = Insanely Great | page = 42}}.</ref>
Apparently coined in 1994, the retrospective name "The Mother of All Demos" references "The Mother of All Battles," a name used by [[Iraq]]i Former President [[Saddam Hussein]] to describe the 1991 [[Gulf War]]; the term "[[the mother of all]]" subsequently became a widely used [[stock phrase]] or [[snowclone]]. The first use of this name for Engelbart's talk is ascribed to journalist [[Steven Levy]] in his 1994 book, ''Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything'', where he describes the event as "a calming voice from Mission Control as the truly final frontier whizzed before their eyes. It was the mother of all demos."<ref>{{Citation | last = Levy | first = Steven | author-link = Steven Levy | year = 1994 | title = Insanely Great | page = 42}}.</ref>


Subsequently, [[Andries van Dam]] repeated the phrase in a speech at the 1998 ''Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution'' Conference, at the opening of Session 3, and the phrase was also cited in John Markoff's 2005 book ''[[What the Dormouse Said]]''.
Subsequently, [[Andries van Dam]] repeated the phrase in a speech at the 1998 ''Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution'' Conference, at the opening of Session 3, and the phrase was also cited in John Markoff's 2005 book ''[[What the Dormouse Said]]''.

Revision as of 08:11, 8 July 2013

The Mother of All Demos is a name given retrospectively to Douglas Engelbart's December 9, 1968 demonstration of experimental computer technologies that are now commonplace. The live demonstration featured the introduction of one of[1][2] the earliest computer mouses as well as of video conferencing, teleconferencing, hypertext, word processing, hypermedia, object addressing and dynamic file linking, revision control, and a collaborative real-time editor.[3][4]

Content

Engelbart, with the help of his geographically distributed team, demonstrated the workings of the NLS ("oN Line System") to the 1,000 computer professionals in attendance. The project was the result of work done at the Stanford Research Institute's Augmentation Research Center, and the session was presented under the title A research center for augmenting human intellect as part of the Fall Joint Computer Conference at the Convention Center in San Francisco. Bill English is listed as the co-author of the conference paper[5] of the same name and is acknowledged as one of the principal engineers responsible for NLS and the demo.

Name

Apparently coined in 1994, the retrospective name "The Mother of All Demos" references "The Mother of All Battles," a name used by Iraqi Former President Saddam Hussein to describe the 1991 Gulf War; the term "the mother of all" subsequently became a widely used stock phrase or snowclone. The first use of this name for Engelbart's talk is ascribed to journalist Steven Levy in his 1994 book, Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything, where he describes the event as "a calming voice from Mission Control as the truly final frontier whizzed before their eyes. It was the mother of all demos."[6]

Subsequently, Andries van Dam repeated the phrase in a speech at the 1998 Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution Conference, at the opening of Session 3, and the phrase was also cited in John Markoff's 2005 book What the Dormouse Said.

References

  1. ^ "Auf den Spuren der deutschen Computermaus" (in German). Heise Verlag. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2013-01-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Telefunken's 'Rollkugel'". oldmouse.com.
  3. ^ Tweney, Dylan (12.09.2008). "Dec. 9, 1968: The Mother of All Demos". Wired News. Retrieved 24 January 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Metz, Cade (11 December 2008). "The Mother of All Demos — 150 years ahead of its time". The Register. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  5. ^ English, WK; Engelbart, DC (December 9, 1968), "AFIPS Conference Proceedings of the 1968 Fall Joint Computer Conference", Augment, vol. 33, San Francisco, CA, pp. 395–410, 3954 {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help).
  6. ^ Levy, Steven (1994), Insanely Great, p. 42.

Further reading

  • Bardini, Thierry. Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8047-3871-8
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