Desirable chorded keyset input device created by computer pioneer Douglas Engelbart, like that used in his iconic 1968 'Mother of All Demos.' The rare keyset, measuring 5″ x 5.5″ x 1.25″, features five keys (permitting 31 key-press combinations), for typing and entering commands. The bottom is labeled "Demo" and "Owned by Doug Engelbart," and has an affixed maintenance notice written and initialed by Engelbart: "Bad 'b' switch; spring too weak, or key binding. Oct 94, DCE." The device retains its braided cord, terminating in a serial connector.
The five-button coding keyset was first publicly demonstrated in the 'Mother of All Demos,' where Engelbart presented many of the technological ideas that are now commonplace—including the computer mouse, hypertext, multiple windows, video conferencing, and shared editing of online documents. The keyset was meant to supplement—not replace—a traditional keyboard. Where a keyboard required a user to lift their hand from the mouse and look away from the screen, the keyset allowed them to continue using the mouse while typing by pressing down multiple switches simultaneously to make 'chords,' like a piano player. Using binary code, each 'chord' would input a specific character.
The keyset and Engelbart's three-button mouse also worked together—the keyset's 31 combinations permitted input of all 26 letters of the alphabet, plus standard punctuation marks (comma, period, semicolon, question mark, and space). Used in conjunction with the keyset, the mouse buttons functioned as shift and command keys: with the middle button pressed, letters shifted to uppercase and other punctuation marks were accessible; pressing the left mouse button allowed entry of numbers and a further selection of punctuation and symbols.
The 'Mother of All Demos' would prove to be massively influential, though it took well over a decade for Engelbart's ideas to become mainstream. In the early 1970s, much of Engelbart's original team ended up at Xerox PARC, where they continued their research in human-computer interaction and kept improving upon the mouse. While touring Xerox PARC in 1979, Steve Jobs witnessed the concepts of the mouse and the graphical user interface (GUI) in action. Impressed by their user-friendliness, he aimed to simplify and incorporate these intuitive features into Apple's computers.
This is one of two chording keysets gifted by Engelbart to Valerie Landau during their collaboration on the development of new mobile input devices in 2010. They formed a company, Mobile Input Devices and Systems, that created a mobile text entry keypad and a typing glove as well as apps for the iPhone and iPad using Engelbart’s binary alpha-numeric code, Devanagari, Braille, and Russian.
Valerie Landau first met Douglas Engelbart in 1984 while in the Stanford University library looking for archival footage for a PBS documentary series called, 'Silicon Valley.' The curator asked her to transfer the film of 'The Mother of All Demos' onto video tape. While viewing the footage during the transfer process, Landau’s life was changed. The film crew interviewed Engelbart and after the TV show aired Engelbart asked her and the show's producer to work with him to articulate his ideas. The two collaborated on a variety of projects for the following 28 years. They collaborated on creating an Educational Networked Improvement community and on the book The Engelbart Hypothesis: Dialogs with Douglas Engelbart as well as the Engelbart Historical Mural with Eileen Clegg.
For the 50th anniversary of the Mother of All Demos, Smithsonian Magazine commissioned Landau to write the article 'How Douglas Engelbart Invented the Future: Two decades before the personal computer, a shy engineer unveiled the tools that would drive the tech revolution.'
Over the decades of friendship Valerie Landau also co-organized countless events with various groups to discuss and celebrate Engelbart’s work including two Program for the Future conferences as well as many birthday celebrations including one at Stanford University for his 81st birthday and The Tech Museum celebration for his 85th birthday.
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