Mouse Systems

Mouse Systems Corporation

Company type	Private
Industry	Computer hardware
Founded	1982
Founder	Steve Kirsch
Defunct	1990
Fate	Acquired by KYE Systems
Headquarters	United States
Products	Optical computer mice, PCPaint software (bundled)

Mouse Systems Corporation (MSC), initially known as Rodent Associates, was established in 1982 by Steve Kirsch. The firm was instrumental in introducing the computer mouse to the IBM PC platform.

History

At the Mini/Micro '82 event held in Anaheim, California in October 1982, MSC presented its optical mouse, which was demonstrated on a Sun workstation and an Atari 400 running Missile Command. This product earned a "best new product" distinction out of numerous competitors.

In 1984, MSC secured the rights to Mouse Draw from Microtex Industries, a program developed by Doug Wolfgram. To make it compatible with Apple's MacPaint interface, Wolfgram and co-creator John Bridges reprogrammed the application in C, renaming it PCPaint. This software was distributed alongside millions of MSC mice until 1987.

In 1990, MSC was purchased by KYE Systems, the manufacturer behind the Genius mouse brand.

Technical details

The initial optical mice from MSC operated using a specialized metallic mousepad printed with a pattern of grey and blue lines. Movement across this pad caused LED light to reflect onto sensors, which an onboard controller interpreted and sent as tracking information through an RS-232 serial connection. When plugged into a standard RS-232 port, an external power source was necessary; some models instead sourced power from the keyboard port via a pass-through cable.

Early Sun workstations exclusively utilized MSC optical mice connected to dedicated ports that supplied power directly, removing the need for separate power adapters. The first mousepads had widely spaced line patterns, whereas subsequent designs employed smaller pads with denser grids.

See also

• Mouse Systems ProAgio
• Optical mouse