How Easycat the Pet Became Easycat the Technology

If you like to keep up with all the new and evolving technology, you might have heard of the EasyCat, which is like a computer mouse only more ergonomic (it’s flat) and can be controlled with the simple touch of a finger. The EasyCat can even be customized to meet the needs of special projects or tasks, which in some circles is like the whip cream on the hot chocolate—pretty great stuff!

If I asked you how you thought the EasyCat got it’s name, you might—like many other intelligent people—assume that it received its name because of the obvious connection to the computer mouse and the fact that it is “more advanced” etc.

However, if there is one thing that you should learn during your lifetime is that you shouldn’t assume anything. The EasyCat, my friends was actually named for a live cat who also happened to be the sole pet of a man and his family. This man was the man who conceived the idea of the EasyCat technology and you will soon see why.

This man, Stan, had a nice family and lived in Sandy Springs, Georgia next to the Seacrest southern style mansion (no, Ryan Seacrest does not live there anymore). Stan, unlike many brilliant men didn’t take that much time worrying about becoming brilliant because he already was and because he didn’t worry about competing with other brilliant people. He wasn’t lazy by any means but some felt he was because he was always so relaxed and he knew so many people on friendly terms. Since when has a genius had time for lots of friends?! Stan, the genius, did have a lot of friends however and he also had a big smile that seemed wide but that wasn’t too overwhelming. Stan would smile his wide smile, hold his head up high and look as humble as anyone anywhere.

Stan had a wife named Bethany. Bethany, like Stan, was very intelligent. Bethany studied more than Stan did but Bethany didn’t worry about competition either. Bethany, like Stan, just didn’t worry about those kinds of things. She worried about her husband and children sometimes but that was about it.

Well Stan and Bethany had four children: Jacob, Jesse, Rebekah and Rachel and surprisingly enough they didn’t name their children after characters in the Bible. Stan and Bethany said that each child had simply just looked like his or her name and so those were the names they were given. Stan and Bethany never worried about names.

Well, Stan and Bethany knew they would need a family pet. After little Rachel started toddling around and sticking extension plugs in her mouth, a pet just seemed appropriate. So one Saturday when the children were at their grandmother’s apartment in downtown Atlanta (by the Symphony Hall) Stan and Bethany went to the pet store. They saw cockatoos, rabbits by the dozens, fish, scrawny ferrets, big rats, a small octopus, several snakes (these didn’t worry Bethany), poodles with ribbon, lots of puppies and the cats. They stopped by the cats (there were about 20 of them) and noticed one right in the middle that was pure white and had blue eyes. They asked one of the store clerks where the cat came from and the clerk answered that it was probably bred right there in Georgia—that every once in a while…..well……….you just got a white cat. He also mentioned that the cat was deaf and that white cats with blue eyes have more of a chance of being deaf because the gene that made them white can affect their auditory development. Bethany commented that she had read about that somewhere and she asked the clerk how you would train the cat. Oh, just the same as any other cat he said. “After all, cats don’t listen to what you say anyhow,” he winked.

So, Stan and Bethany took the white cat home because it intrigued them so much and because it seemed like an easy going cat.

Jacob, Jesse, Rebekah and Rachel loved the cat. Stan said, let’s name the cat EasyCat. “Why?” Jacob asked. Well, said Stan, he has such an easy way of walking around without looking worried about anything, so I think we should call him EasyCat.

“EasyCat it is!” the kids shouted and Rachel toddled over to EasyCat and sat on EasyCat’s tail. EasyCat didn’t seem too worried about it. EasyCat was no ordinary cat.

A week later EasyCat was lounging like a normal cat next to Stan’s computer. When Stan unhurriedly walked in the room and turned on his computer, EasyCat didn’t hear it but when he turned his head up lazily towards Stan, he noticed the computer monitor and immediately went up to the monitor and began to touch various icons with his paw. EasyCat was fascinated with the monitor and seemed to want to control it. Stan tried to tease EasyCat with the computer mouse but EasyCat wasn’t interested. EasyCat wanted something sleek, not a clumsy computer mouse. This is what got Stan thinking about developing a touch-sensored mouse that was flat—almost like a mini computer monitor. When Stan began to think of what he would name the new invention he didn’t have to think long. He would name it EasyCat!

So, about a year later when the new EasyCat technology was unveiled for consumer use, Bethany, Jacob, Jesse, Rebekah, Rachel and EasyCat were all there to watch. Stan never told his co-workers and colleagues about the true inspiration for the EasyCat technology and it’s name because they—like many others—assumed that is was simply a prescribed advancement of the term computer “mouse” and they never bothered to ask.

Stan and his family weren’t too worried about it anyways.