AMX Mouse - Points the way Pre-dating the launch of home computers that came with and were optimised for mice - such as the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST - there was a phase of "retro fitting" the fashionable new devices to sometimes quite old machines - in this case the venerable 1981-released BBC Micro, otherwise known as the Acorn Proton. Apple's failed Lisa was the first mass-market computer to offer the whole "WIMP" (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer) experience, which was itself based on that developed on the Xerox Alto back in 1973 (and elsewhere even before that), but it was the Macintosh that truly popularised it. However, these were high-end and expensive machines, so there was a market to add more affordable mice to home micros, hence this - the AMX Mouse from Advance Memory Systems. The AMX mouse, credited as being the first mouse launched for a home computer in the UK when it debuted at the Acorn User Exhibition in London's Olympia in August 1984[source: "AMS lets mouse loose", Acorn User, August 1984, p. 15], was reviewed in January 1985's PCN, with Francis Jago concluding that it ~"is the leading contender for the title of Peripheral of the Year. In all fields except perhaps cosmetics, the device is superb. The software on ROM makes programming it extremely easy, even for the novice. At £89.95 it is a bargain"[source: "Mouse work", Personal Computer News, January 12th 1985, p. 35]. Whether or not the software could be considered as a "free" giveaway, the price of £90 is around [[90|1985]] in [[now]] money, so they still weren't that cheap, although it was a definite improvement on a few years before. In July 1983, Microsoft announced that its first mouse would soon be available at a price of £140 ([[140|1983]]), and TeleVideo announced an autumn '83 release of its mouse for only £103.45 ([[104|1983]])[source: "Mouse comes out of traps", Personal Computer News, Vol. 1, No. 21, July 28 1983, p. 7]. Elsewhere, Mouse Systems' Optical "M-1" Mouse, available for the IBM PC and which required a custom gridded pad to run on, was available for £297 - that's a not-inconsiderable [[297|1983]] in [[now]] money[source: "Mice on the loose", PCN, September 1st 1983, p. 3]. That's still over £100 cheaper than Logitech's first mouse for the IBM PC, reviewed in September 15th 1983's PCN as a "likeable product" and "physically robust" and with a price of £395 + VAT[source: "IBM LogiMouse squeaks for itself", Personal Computer News, September 15 1983, p. 40], an eye-watering [[454|1983]] in [[now]] terms.