IBM ponders: Hmmm..."Think Different" is already taken, what could we make our slogan? I know, "Think"! Yeah, that's original.
I suppose Aretha Franklin will be singing their new theme song.
IBM doesn't really want to be the home of innovation. Why bother with that? Let some other sucker take the risks while IBM pushes whichever commodity proves itself in the market place. At least Apple tries to introduce new stuff and often pays the price.
It's all very sad, this lack of pioneering spirit in business. That's why I watch cartoons. That's where the real innovation is.
Re:IBM is a service company
hfb on 2002-11-05T18:07:05
Oh, I don't know if it's sad...I read FuckedCompany every day for my dose of industry innovation.:)
In fact, I always assumed that one of the appeals of "Think Different" was that it was a play on IBM's motto. I'm pretty sure it is the motive behind the name "Thinkpad", which predates Apple's oddly ungrammatical campaign.
Re:I think IBM thought of Think first
da on 2002-11-05T18:33:50
On the basis of this note, I did a google search for "IBM think slogan". Would you believe IBM's used the slogan since the 1930s? According to their Marketing FAQ:"Q: What is the origin of IBM's "THINK" motto?A: In December 1911, when future IBM Chairman Thomas J. Watson, Sr., managed the sales and advertising departments of the National Cash Register Company, he is reported to have said at a sales meeting: "The trouble with everyone of us is that we don't think enough. Thought has been the father of every advance since time began. 'I didn't think' has cost the world millions of dollars." And he wrote "T-H-I-N-K" with a blue crayon on the easel behind him. Almost immediately, the one-word slogan had been placed on signs in every department at NCR. And Watson brought that concept with him when he later joined C-T-R, the forerunner of today's IBM, as general manager in 1914. "THINK" appeared in C-T-R in the form of a large block-letter sign, famed and placed in offices and plants, and was printed in company publications. In the early 1930s, the THINK motto began to take precedence over other slogans in IBM, and later became the name of IBM's employee publication"
Check out the third google link- to a really dippy Corporate Song from that era:
Everyone join in now! Then dark blue visions change to pink...94 OUR PRESIDENT'S MOTTO: "THINK" Tune: "Yankee Doodle" 1. T-H-I-N-K spells THINK -- Our President Watson's motto. It saves mistakes, lost time and ink. You'll then do what you ought to. 2. T-H-I-N-K is THINKI 'Tis good for brain and body, Then dark blue visions change to pink. And you'll please everybody. Chorus T-H-I-N-K that's THINK -- Get ideas big and wholesome; And you'll not be the missing link, You'll learn from Mr. Watson.Re:I think IBM thought of Think first
Allison on 2002-11-05T19:41:59
Ah, so it's from the "I think there's a world market for about five computers." guy. Much better.;) I still want to see Aretha Franklin dancing around with a ThinkPad.
:)
