{
  "title": "How we learned to use computers",
  "prepared": "2026-09-27",
  "scope": "Selected milestones, not invention dates or a complete history. Original conceptual illustrations, not historical screenshots.",
  "milestones": [
    {
      "year": "1968",
      "action": "Point",
      "milestone": "A public demonstration",
      "lesson": "Move a mouse on the desk. Direct a pointer on the screen.",
      "source": "Engelbart archive; Computer History Museum"
    },
    {
      "year": "1981",
      "action": "Open",
      "milestone": "The desktop metaphor",
      "lesson": "Recognize a document or folder. Use familiar objects to understand digital ones.",
      "source": "Computer History Museum; 1981 Xerox Star brochure"
    },
    {
      "year": "1990",
      "action": "Drag",
      "milestone": "Practice through play",
      "lesson": "Point, hold, move, release. Solitaire gives a repeated action a visible result.",
      "source": "Microsoft / Xbox; company retrospective, 2020"
    },
    {
      "year": "1991",
      "action": "Follow",
      "milestone": "A web of documents",
      "lesson": "Choose a link in one document. Continue reading at another destination.",
      "source": "CERN; early WWW project chronology"
    },
    {
      "year": "2007",
      "action": "Pinch",
      "milestone": "Fingers on the screen",
      "lesson": "Spread contacts to enlarge a view. Bring them together to reduce it.",
      "source": "Apple; contemporary iPhone launch announcement"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "engelbart",
      "title": "Doug Engelbart 1968 Demo",
      "url": "https://www.dougengelbart.org/mousesite/1968Demo.html",
      "type": "Archive of the demonstration",
      "supports": "December 9, 1968 public NLS demonstration, mouse, hypertext and remote collaboration."
    },
    {
      "id": "mouse",
      "title": "The Mouse \u2014 Computer History Museum",
      "url": "https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/story/350",
      "type": "Museum collection history",
      "supports": "Mouse development before the 1968 public demonstration."
    },
    {
      "id": "star",
      "title": "The Xerox Star Runs One More Time \u2014 Computer History Museum",
      "url": "https://computerhistory.org/events/xerox-star-runs-one-more/",
      "type": "Retrospective museum event page quoting a 1981 brochure",
      "supports": "Desktop metaphor and office-object icons described in the 1981 Star brochure."
    },
    {
      "id": "solitaire",
      "title": "Celebrating 30 Years of Microsoft Solitaire",
      "url": "https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/05/22/celebrating-30-years-microsoft-solitaire/",
      "type": "2020 company retrospective",
      "supports": "Windows Solitaire on Windows 3.0 in 1990 and the company account of learning to drag and drop. Not a quantified learning study."
    },
    {
      "id": "cern",
      "title": "WWW Project History",
      "url": "https://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/History.html",
      "type": "Early project chronology",
      "supports": "1990 prototypes; March 1991 limited line-mode browser release; August 1991 online files and announcements."
    },
    {
      "id": "iphone",
      "title": "iPhone Premieres This Friday Night at Apple Retail Stores",
      "url": "https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/28iPhone-Premieres-This-Friday-Night-at-Apple-Retail-Stores/",
      "type": "Contemporary June 28, 2007 product announcement",
      "supports": "June 29 US release and contemporary tap, flick and pinch gesture description. Not invention of touch or multitouch."
    },
    {
      "id": "accessibility",
      "title": "Understanding SC 2.5.7: Dragging Movements",
      "url": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/dragging-movements.html",
      "type": "W3C explanatory guidance",
      "supports": "Single-pointer alternative to non-essential dragging, distinct from keyboard access."
    }
  ]
}