On December 9, 1968, Doug Engelbart and the researchers working with him at the Augmentation Research Center staged a demonstration of the computer they had built, the oNLine System, or NLS. Below are several excerpts from the video of that demo, covering the highlights of the NLS. The original 90-minute video is part of the Engelbart Collection in the Special Collections of Stanford University; for more excerpts, see
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Engelbart introduces the NLS and describes what he'll be demonstrating.
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Engelbart runs his "writing machine" and begins word processing. He shows how one can cut and paste words, and how information is entered and manipulated with the keyboard, mouse, and chord-keyboard.
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A document on the NLS can contain words, lists, and graphics. Engelbart demonstrates how to rearrange the items by categories and to display different levels of information.
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Engelbart shows how the NLS can link between pieces of text, creating cross-references and hyperlinks.
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The NLS's input devices are displayed, including the first computer mouse. "I don't know why we call it a mouse," Engelbart explains. "It started that way and we never changed it."
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