Geeky Through The Ages: The Dawn of Modern Computing: NLS and Douglas Engelbart

Douglas Engelbart, the first mouse, and an early chorded keyboard.

Everyone seems to have their own idea of which machine deserves the title of the first "modern" computer. Some people point toward the first Apple Macintosh, others towards the IBM PC, the Apple Lisa, the Commodore Amiga, the Xerox Parc, and so forth, and, while each of these machines undoubtedly played a major role in shaping computers as they are today, none of them is really the first modern computer. They all share a common ancestor that pioneered nearly all of the concepts that are associated with modern computers, NLS (oN Line System), a networked computing platform originally implemented in the 1960s.

Some firsts associated with this pioneering system include:

the computer mouse
2-dimensional display editing
in-file object addressing, linking
hypermedia
outline processing
flexible view control
multiple windows
cross-file editing
integrated hypermedia email
hypermedia publishing (Hypertext and links)
document version control
shared-screen teleconferencing

computer-aided meetings
formatting directives
context-sensitive help
distributed client-server architecture
uniform command syntax
universal "user interface" front-end module
multi-tool integration
grammar-driven command language interpreter
protocols for virtual terminals
remote procedure call protocols
compilable "Command Meta Language"
The Chorded Keyboard

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made no secret about the number of ideas that they borrowed (or perhaps stole is the appropriate term) from the Xerox Parc, and much has been written on the subject. What seems to be ignored is that nearly every concept that made the Parc (a machine of 1973) so revolutionary has it's roots in a system that existed as early as 1966. In fact, the only truly original feat it can claim is that it was the first machine that was designed to be easy to use and easy to learn to use, rather than simply efficient. Without the strides made by a small team of researchers at SRI, led by Douglas Engelbart, on a system known as NLS (oN Line System), the Xerox Parc, and by extension MacOS, MS Windows, and most other 'modern' software could have never existed.

After the jump, we've got a video of the system in action.

It is tempting to assume that Engelbart and his team are little more than historical footnotes without any real, direct influence on the development of the PC. To make that assumption you would have to ignore the fact that several of his team members went on to work with Xerox to create the PARC. They wanted to make a machine that had all of the high points of the NLS, without it's limitations and steep learning curve.

The original mouse

Plus, they invented the mouse. They called it a "bug" instead of a "mouse", but they were responsible for it's inception. That alone makes them, and the system that they built, worthy of memory.

Some of the things that were capable on NLS systems in the 1960s, have only recently become a reality on modern personal computers. Collaborative document editing, for example, was all but completely unheard of until the launch of cloud based office suites such as Google Docs.

As of 2005 only one NLS machine was left in existence. The Computer History Museum, working in collaboration with Engelbart set out to clone this system for the preservation of the history it represents. There have been no updates from this project since 2007. In the mean time, the only real glimpse we have into how the system worked is a film made of the system operating in 1968. This film demonstrates some truly remarkable firsts. Often referred to as "The Mother of all Demos", the film is included in it's entirety bellow.