Groundbreaking 1968 Demo recognized with IEEE Milestone Plaque

A special event celebrating Doug Engelbart’s famous Demo was held at the Computer History Museum in Mt. View, CA, with the unveiling of a bronze plaque whose citation reads:

“Commonly termed the ‘Mother of All Demos,’ Douglas Engelbart and his team demonstrated their oNLine System (NLS) at Brooks Hall in San Francisco on 9 December 1968. Connected via microwave link to the host computer and other remote users at SRI in Menlo Park, the demonstration showcased many fundamental technologies that would become ubiquitous, including collaborative online editing, hypertext, video conferencing, word processing, spell checking, revision control, and the mouse.”

The bronze plaque, titled “Demonstration of Online Systems and Personal Computing, 1968,” represents the conferring of an IEEE Milestone for the famous 1968 Demo. The IEEE Milestone program honors significant inventions, locations or events related to electrical engineering and computing. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization advancing technology for humanity.

Speaker lineup at the unveiling:

1. John Hollar, CEO and President of the Computer History Museum (CHM)
2. Dr. Kathleen Kramer, Director of IEEE Region 6
3. Dr. William “Bill” Mark, President of SRI International’s Information and Computing Sciences Division
4. Marc Weber, Curatorial Dir. of the Internet History Program at the CHM
5. Shayne Hodge, IEEE Demo Milestone Proposer
6. Dr. Alan Kay (via Skype), President of the Viewpoints Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at UCLA
7. Jeff Rulifson, SRI ARC Team Member and 1968 Demo Co-Presenter
8. Don Andrews, SRI ARC Team Member and 1968 Demo Co-Presenter
9. Brian Berg, IEEE Region 6 Milestone Coordinator

Doug Engelbart, Founding Director of the SRI ARC research team and 1968 Demo Lead Presenter, was an IEEE Life Member and recipient of the 1992 IEEE Computer Pioneer Award and the 1999 IEEE John Von Neumann Medal Award, among others (see About Doug Engelbart).

Links

• thedemo.org
• On the significance of the demo and Doug Engelbart’s vision
  – CHM’s short video tribute celebrating Doug Engelbart and Engelbart Bio
  – SRI’s Timeline of Innovation – Interactive Computing
  – Smithsonian’s In one 1968 presentation, this inventor shaped modern computing
• Enjoy our Event Photo Album
• Website for this IEEE Milestone: www.DemoMilestone.com
• More about the IEEE Milestone Program and List of IEEE Milestones awarded
• Related IEEE Milestone: Inception of the ARPANET, 1969
  (also involving Doug Engelbart and team)
• Related Press Releases: IEEE | SRI