Q: Why was the computer mouse so-called?

Douglas Engelbart, the inventor of the ubiquitous computing device known as the "mouse", died on July 3. He was 88. Here's what the first computer mouse looked like...

It's a far cry from the typically sleek models we have today...

Some designers have even come up with wacky (and in the example below, I dare say offensive) variations:

Meanwhile, one site has a selection of computer mouse poems, such as this one below:

Computer Mice

by Todd-Michael St. Pierre

Can anyone give me advice . . . ?
What to do with computer mice?
At night they come out
And race all about.
Each mouse and its spouse
Invading my house.
They wreck my office
And they're not too nice.
What to do with computer mice?
Wait, I hadn't thought about that -
Perhaps, I'll get a computer cat!

Here's the site:

http://www.mousearena.com/computer-mouse-poem/

There is actually some debate -- among the nerds themselves of course -- as to whether the plural form is "computer mice" or "computer mouses". I prefer the former.

So, why are computer mice/computer mouses so-called? The inventor himself, the late Mr Engelbart, admitted that he had no idea! For a fuller story about the origins of the computer mouse, here is an interesting article from Scientific American (August 18, 2009):

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=origins-computer-mouse