Logitech Celebrates Birth of 100 Millionth Mouse.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 1996--Logitech Inc., world leader in computer mice and other pointing devices, announced the production of its 100 millionth mouse.

Scheduled to roll off the company's SuzHou, China, manufacturing line today, Mouse No. 100,000,000 represents more than 30 years of technological innovation aimed at making human-to-computer communication more natural. Although it did not gain significant commercial acceptance until the mid-1980s, the mouse revolutionized interaction with the computer by introducing the concept of intuitive gestures and movements to "reach into Cyberspace." Today, a mouse or other closely related pointing device such as a trackball or touchpad, is a standard peripheral on virtually every computer in the home or office.

Doug Engelbart: "Father of the Mouse"

Douglas C. Engelbart invented the mouse at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in 1963 and holds the original patent on the device. This initial mouse emerged from Engelbart's research aimed at "augmenting" the collective intelligence of organizations through the support of advanced computer systems. During the Engelbart studies, a number of already existing pointing devices were tested, including trackballs, light pens and primitive tablets.

However, the mouse emerged as the most intuitive and effective way to expand the bandwidth of communication from the user to the computer and made its first public appearance at the ACM/IEEE-CS Fall Joint Computer Conference in 1968.

"It has been exciting to watch the evolution and growing popularity of the mouse over the years," said Engelbart. "For one company to reach a milestone such as this means that users have understood the benefits of interacting with their computers in a natural fashion and prefer to use a tool that matches the way their sensory and motion machinery work together."

The mouse is but one of Doug Engelbart's contributions to today's computers. He is also responsible for the concept and initial implementation of "windows," of "hypertext" (later named and commercialized by Ted Nelson) and of "collaborative computing," among other achievements. His lab at SRI was the second node of the Arpanet, precursor of the current Internet. Today, Engelbart continues to push the boundaries of computing at The Bootstrap Institute, located within Logitech's Fremont, Calif., headquarters.

Moving Toward a Natural User Interface

Following Engelbart's initial invention, subsequent mouse refinement took place at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where researchers developed the first bitmapped screen to support a graphical windowed environment and relied on the mouse for the "pointing" function. In the early years, the mouse was considered a specialized peripheral, with little relevance beyond technical applications and high-end workstations.

The Xerox "Star" was the first attempt effort at commercializing the concepts developed at Xerox PARC. However, it was Apple Computer, with the phenomenally successful Macintosh system, built from the ground up with a graphical user interface, that popularized the tremendous power unleashed by a simple concept -- "Point and Click."

"The computer for the rest of us" succeeded in legitimizing both the graphical user interface and the mouse itself, bringing an effective, affordable tool to the mass market. However, in choosing to put only one button on the Macintosh mouse, Apple emphasized "ease-of-use" at the expense of efficiency. Engelbart has compared a one-button mouse to a tricycle -- easy to learn, but limited in performance when compared with a harder-to-learn bicycle.

Slowly the mouse gained acceptance among IBM PC users. Logitech established an early toe-hold in this market with the first high resolution, three-button mouse featuring software utilities that provided mouse support for popular non-mouse-based programs such as WordStar and Lotus 1-2-3. Yet no one at that point in time could predict the rapid adoption of PC mice that was to take place with the introduction of Microsoft's Windows operating system and the continuing demise of keyboard-only applications.

Logitech: A Pioneer in Pointing Devices

Since 1982, Logitech has been a leader in pointing device technology, with a long lists of "firsts" to its credit, including the first mouse featuring 400 dpi resolution, the first cordless radio mouse and others (see Appendix).

Today, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of computer mice, supplying mice for 18 of the top systems manufacturers and holding a 40-percent share of the world market. Logitech pointing devices regularly receive awards for their industrial design and cutting-edge technology.

For Logitech, the challenge of "building a better mouse" is ongoing, as the company continually strives to introduce products that combine comfort and pleasing style. At the same time, these peripherals must yield high performance for a wide variety of users in diverse operating environments and address new paradigms of computing such as virtual reality and interactive gaming.

To meet these needs, Logitech currently offers a product line that includes mice for desktop and portable environments, thumb- and finger-operated trackballs, cordless mice and presentation controllers based on radio technology, and joysticks.

Although at first glance, the computer mouse seems to be a fairly simple desktop peripheral, the details of pointing device technology -- from case and mechanical design to tracking technology and driver algorithms -- are complex and continually evolving. Today's pointing devices are quite different from Doug Engelbart's original wooden mouse, a mechanical device that used a pair of wheels to turn potentiometer shafts to encode horizontal and vertical motion into analog signals.

In 1982, for example, Logitech introduced the opto-mechanical mouse, featuring optical encoders connected to the rollers to deliver greater tracking precision while providing the familiar tactile response of a rolling ball. In 1991, MouseMan Cordless, the first wireless mouse to use radio technology, was introduced.

More recently, Logitech brought a new level of reliability and performance to the market with the introduction of Marble Electronic Sensing Technology. TrackMan Marble, the first retail product to incorporate this sensing technology based on advanced optics and neural-network theory, contains no moving parts (other than the ball itself) that can collect dirt and dust in its tracking mechanism and therefore offers virtually maintenance-free operation.

As 3D games invade the desktop and virtual reality becomes a more affordable reality, Logitech keeps exploring the next generation of pointing devices to enhance the computing experience.

"We believe that the total experience of using a mouse should be as satisfying, productive, comfortable and as much fun as possible," said Pierluigi Zappacosta, one of Logitech's founders. "This holistic view has led to continuing advancements in pointing device technology and engineering, case design and software development. It emphasizes every aspect of the product, from comfort and cognitive qualities, such as the ease of integration and use and a friendly software interface, to the aesthetic experience of how the device looks on the desktop."

About Logitech

Founded in 1981, Logitech designs, manufactures and markets products that make human-to-computer communication more intuitive and natural. Retail and OEM product offerings include pointing devices, hand-held and sheet-fed scanners, digital cameras and control devices for computer games. Logitech International, the financial holding company for the Logitech Group, is traded publicly in Switzerland on the Geneva and Zurich exchanges. With headquarters in Fremont, Calif., the group maintains wholly-owned manufacturing sites in the Far East and offices in major cities in North America, Europe and Asia. -0- Appendix Logitech Pointing Device "Firsts"

-- First opto-mechanical mouse -- First 200, 300, 400 dpi resolution -- First lightweight ball -- First self-cleaning ball cage -- First software-based automatic mouse configuration -- First multiple-protocol programmable mouse -- First mouse-based shell for non-mouse applications -- First thumb-operated trackball -- First right-, left-, small- and large-handed mouse -- First mouse specifically designed for children -- First cordless infrared mouse -- First cordless radio mouse -- First trackball with no moving parts (beyond the ball itself),

based on Marble sensing technology -- First mouse with software optimized for Windows 95

-0-

Note to Editors: Logitech, MouseMan, TrackMan, and Marble are trademarks of Logitech Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

For additional information on Logitech products, contact the Customer Sales Center at 800/231-7717.

A white paper containing a more complete history of the computer mouse is available from Logitech. Call 510/713-4463 to order.

CONTACT: Logitech Inc.

Betty Skov, 510/713-4463