Xerox CAT - The Earliest of the Trackpads

Рет қаралды 2,876

Күн бұрын

While its known that Xerox used the Mouse for the Alto, what's considerably less remembered is that in 1980 Xerox experimented selling a word processor with what I can tell is the earliest trackpad designed to move a cursor with your fingers and to do so in a shipping commercial product. (IE: anyone who could afford it could buy one). At a notable expense I've come into ownership of one. Not the whole system, so I can't demonstrate it working. Just the pad and the interface board.
In this video I will try to explain why if you search for what the first trackpad is you will run into a confusing mix of history, how with no evidence I suspect this was a pet project of someone at PARC and we look at the hardware itself.
I will be truthful right now that while I have attempted to research this and get as much as my information correct, there are many holes in what I could find and I will likely of made a mistake or two. I am more than willing to read anything you wish to add to what I've found in the comments.
For more information on the Xerox 860, the Digibarn has a page on their machine - www.digibarn.c...
Here is a very old (but somewhat recently uploaded) video of the same system. By the sounds of it, the museum's curator, Bruce Damer is behind the camera - • In Praise of the Xerox...
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.

Пікірлер: 35

@AppliedCryogenics Күн бұрын

RAND Corporation sold the RAND Tablet, AKA the "Grafacon" in 1964. It was $18000. It was capacitive, and it offered a resolution of 100 lines per inch.

@user-fh2fm7vr4m 15 сағат бұрын

Doesn’t the RAND tablet require a pointing device? I think that would disqualify it

@leocomerford 29 минут бұрын

@@user-fh2fm7vr4mYes, surely a tablet but not a trackpad.

@JanusCycle 2 күн бұрын

Wow that is early. Thanks for showing us some of the most niche and interesting items from the history of computing.

@redgek Күн бұрын

Hey Janus! Good to see you around! ;)

@JanusCycle Күн бұрын

@@redgek This channel is a real gem of KZbin.

@IljaSara Күн бұрын

Indeed. A real gem.

@philip.t 2 күн бұрын

This channel is so awesome. Thanks!

@KennCaesius 15 сағат бұрын

This takes me back. I used a Cirque Easy Cat desktop touchpad up 2015 for both space savings and comfort - a finger doesn't get tired as much as an moving an arm and repositioning the mouse. I remember that I bought directly from Cirque when they still had a consumer division and online store and it really liked it. I would have continued using it but I bought the serial version just at the time serial ports were disappearing from consumer desktops. Also Cirque seems to have abandoned driver support, creating one generic driver that covered every OS after windows 2000.

@Peter_S_ 2 күн бұрын

I remember hearing about the CAT about the same time optical mice started appearing in the early 80s (pre Mac) but never saw one. Interesting circuit and a 555 touch sensor circuit variation I've not seen before. Please show close up views of the front and rear of boards which are clear enough to read the part numbers and resistor bands. There are people here who will do a complete reverse engineering.

@CelGenStudios 2 күн бұрын

Bitsavers permitting, I will try and get the boards photographed. He's more of a documentation site rather than a hardware photo site.

@IljaSara Күн бұрын

What happened? KZbin suggestions had this video on the display. Cold day in hell, I guess. You've got a new subscriber now.

@applesushi 18 сағат бұрын

I had a PowerBook 520C and it was the first trackpad I had ever seen. Very interesting to see the history of the technology.

@mfbfreak 2 күн бұрын

The first trackpad i can remember, is from a Windows 2000 era Dell Latitude. But before that, my father had a win 98 based Fujitsu Lifebook with full blown touch screen (though with stylus). Anything my dad had before that had a trackpoint (a.k.a. nipple a.k.a. clit depending on who you ask)

@tezinho81 Күн бұрын

15:47 90 dollars Canadian sounds like a bargain for a piece of history, although what a shame someone parted the entire assembly out. Great research, really interesting vid

@wsplatinum Сағат бұрын

i love it when stuff gets disputed quite aggressively

@thenoblerot Күн бұрын

I have a feeling the YT algo is gonna rightfully bless this vid. Good luck! Great vid, new subscriber here!

@darkfoxfurre Күн бұрын

The design of that device looks simple enough that you could probably get it functional with a simple microcontroller.

@CelGenStudios 23 сағат бұрын

I thought the same along with a few people I spoke to while working on this but ultimately I don't even have Arduino skills. :(

@SianaGearz Күн бұрын

I'm trying to remember, the oldest laptop i have actually handled was a 486 Toshiba and it either didn't have a pointing device in-body, shipping with a clip-on serial trackball instead, or it had a trackpoint integrated, similar to the one made famous by Thinkpads. By 1997ish all laptops had a touchpad, with exception of smallest subnotebooks. JVC MP-XP (Pentium3/Pentium M ULV) has a trackpoint and no touchpad.

@TheAlchaemist Күн бұрын

the famous ThinkPad clitoris, I remember having to do heavy graph editing on one of those, the finger would hurt...

@MotownBatman 2 күн бұрын

Thats w!ZaRd!! It Functions like an Intellivision GamePad Disc

@NintenloupWolfFR 2 күн бұрын

BTW, a square is considered a rectangle iirc :p

@CelGenStudios Күн бұрын

>_> !

@BrassicGamer Күн бұрын

I hope you find one of those 860s - I think you just increased the likelihood by making this video! Very interesting, I also enjoy investigating these small parts of computing history that the origins of have not been adequately researched and pinned down. I did a similar thing for AGP because I just *have* to know what the first of everything was. I don't have any clear memories of the first time I used a touchpad but I suspect it was a PowerBook Duo or G3.

@CelGenStudios 23 сағат бұрын

I'll gladly borrow one but I can't be taking on more large systems until I eventually find a larger place.