Spotted this one on Reddit’s section devoted to the “mildly interesting:” In a 1987 interview with Playboy -- which we read back then for the articles, if you recall -- Steve Jobs was asked what’s up with this mouse contraption.
PB: Most computers use key strokes to enter instructions, but Macintosh replaces many of them with something called a mouse––a little box that is rolled around on your desk and guides a pointer on your computer screen. It's a big change for people used to keyboards. Why the mouse?
SJ: If I want to tell you there's a spot on your shirt, I'm not going to do it linguistically: "There's a spot on your shirt 14 centimeters down from the collar and three centimeters to the left of your button." If you have a spot––"There!" [He points]––I'll point to it. Pointing is a metaphor we all know. We've done a lot of studies and tests on that, and it's much faster to do all kinds of functions, such as cutting and pasting, with a mouse, so it's not only easier to use but more efficient.
If you’d like to read the entire interview without risking a visit to the Playboy website, Gizmodo published it in what would appear to be its entirety a few years ago.