Apple founder’s ‘inspiration’ sold for Rs 1.48 crore, here's what it is

A computer mouse that served as one of Steve Jobs' key inspirations has been auctioned for a stunning 147,000 Pounds (Rs 1,48,89,174), according to Metro. RR Auction, located in Boston, sold a Douglas Engelbart three-button mouse and coding keyset for almost £12,000, or 12 times the original estimate.

"The rare, early three-button computer mouse designed by Engelbart, measuring approximately 4″ x 2.75″ x 2.5″, utilises two metal discs (corresponding to the X-axis and Y-axis) on the bottom to locate the position of the cursor, rather than a ball or optical light that came to be used later," a description of the product on the auction page reads.

There are a total of 31 different key presses that may be made using the coding keyset's five keys. Using this setup, the user may type with their left hand while pointing and clicking with their right.

Steve Jobs saw the mouse and graphical user interface (GUI) in operation in 1979 while visiting a research centre. He was so pleased by how easy it was to operate that he thought Apple computers should follow suit.

But, the 245-pound Xerox mouse did not glide smoothly, so Mr. Jobs was determined to design a 12-pound, one-button alternative. Then, Apple paid Mr. Engelbart's mouse patent licencing fee of roughly 33,000 pounds and engaged IDEO to make the mouse a reality.

Also, READ: ChatGPT faces long outage, here’s what OpenAI has to say

SOLD! a computer mouse and coding keyset created by Doug Engelbart, as used in the 'Mother of All Demos,' sold for $178,936 @RRAuction. https://t.co/r9fz431woY#Xerox #Computer #Consign #Auction #History pic.twitter.com/f4uQZBiZJ4

— RR Auction (@RRAuction) March 17, 2023

Even though it took well over a decade for Engelbart's views to become popular, the "Mother of All Demos" ultimately proved to be enormously influential.