The article/interviewee suggests it was the first mainstream optical mouse, launched in 2000. Didn't the Intellimouse have it around 1999, plus a scrollwheel? I remember using a range of Microsoft mice going back many years and they were pretty well known.
Actually, the Wheel Mouse Optical I still use today is from late-2000, I think. For a while in the middle, I used one of the darker grey Explorers before returning to the lighter and older version.
Anyone else remember round/puck mice from before that Apple one, mid-1990s? First encountered that shape of mouse in a Unix lab.
It's difficult to find the history of the IntelliMouse, but it looked like the original one launched around 1998 had the scrollwheel and a mouse ball, but the second generation one has the optical addition. Not sure when it launched though. According to this site: http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/microsoft/ it's around 1999. But there is no attribution or month listed. This was for the 1.0 version though, that was quickly discontinued. 1.1A launched as a minor hardware revision later, and the first reliable one seems to be the 3.0 from forum posts on the subject, which dropped around 2001-2002.
The history of the Apple Pro Mouse is super-easy to find though, it launched in July 2000. So sayeth Apple-History and MacTracker. Looks like MS was first to market but with a fairly flaky original and refined it on the market.
DEC used three button puck-style mice, the one you saw was likely attached to a DECStation and I think DEC had been using them for quite a while, maybe from the mid to late 80s. Here's logitech's first mouse from 1982 which is also a puck.
Mouse Systems, Steve Kirsch's company, was shipping optical mice in 1982. They were standard issue on Sun workstations for years. I leave it to your judgment whether that qualifies as "mainstream".
The Mouse Systems optical mice were available for other, consumer, platforms as well. We had a Mouse Systems optical mouse (with the metal grid mousepad) for our Mac Classic in the early 90's.
A Sun 360 deskside computer was definitely consumer, it was only the size of a filing cabinet (definitely made for nuclear war though, heavily shielded).
I had that original Intellimouse, and it was definitely 1999. I had a G3 minitower and USB was still the new hotness. I actually had to buy a USB card to stick in my G3. I also got myself one Gravis Gamepad Pro controllers at the same time. USB Overdrive got a hell of a workout back then.
I to this day still use the IntelliMouse. They are hard to find at times and I found someone on Alibaba selling knock-offs I've been real tempted to try.
Yep. I'm using an intellimouse from c.a. 2001 as my main pointing device. It's a 5 button + wheel, usb/ps2 version. I've also got a simpler 3 button + wheel one, but it's newer, and doesn't feel as nice.
Actually, the Wheel Mouse Optical I still use today is from late-2000, I think. For a while in the middle, I used one of the darker grey Explorers before returning to the lighter and older version.
Anyone else remember round/puck mice from before that Apple one, mid-1990s? First encountered that shape of mouse in a Unix lab.