PHOTOS - IBM THINK interactive exhibit opens at Epcot's Innoventions

[Dreamers Empire]

Easy, buddy. What people are getting at is this exhibit seems to fit more in the Communicore vein than what we've seen in the past from Innoventions - which for those that miss it, is a good thing. I don't think they're saying this exhibit is at the same level of UoE.

I have to admit, your argument that this IBM think was a better reflection of Communicore was good enough to pause and think about it. In some ways it is, as Communicore was largely dedicated to computers. But the focus then was around the technology, not about the existential, which is exactly what this sounds like. And if these kinds of changes were just in Communicore I really wouldn't care. But the existential is starting to rear its ugly head in other attractions like Spaceship Earth and Test Track. The end of Spaceship Earth used to be full of wonder as you gazed on the star fields on the final descent. Now you focus on a little computer screen and create a cartoon, albeit cute and funny, you are focused on your own little world on your own little screen. I haven't been on the new Test Track but I've heard about the design aspect, sounds like more of the same. And here we go again, put up a screen and let you tear loose with your imagination. Poor little Figment would be singing 'Imagination' to the monotone tune of the borg and talk about resistance being futile.

You can not tell me that this is the kind of attraction you'd want to come back to again and again. And while it resembles Communicore in some ways, it sounds devoid of wonderment.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The IBM exhibit is a welcome change from this type of thing:

I think I'll take "sterile art galery" over a poor imitation of every major city's token "Science Centre".

 

[wdwmagic]

Huh? A bunch of backlit pictures, no technology? Did IBM go into the low budget PR business?

They are 6ft tall touch panels

 

[Next Big Thing]

I think everyone needs to take a step back and reserve judgement until they actually see it. From videos i've seen on it, it seems pretty cool and a perfect fit for EPCOT and innoventions.

 

[TP2000]

Maybe I need to put on a tuxedo and sip on champagne to appreciate it.

No, you don't need to do that. IBM's public exhibits like this dating back almost fifty years were always aimed at the average person; assuming that average person had at least a high school education and more than a passing interest in the world around him. I think if you give it a chance, you'll find the IBM THINK exhibit to be quite interesting, as others already have.

But perhaps, just for public decorum, folks could put down the giant turkey leg and bucket of soda before browsing the IBM exhibit?

It's apparent that there are folks here who don't have a point of reference for this latest IBM exhibit. International Business Machines has been putting on exhibits like this for fifty years, hosting them at World's Fairs or at big city museums or science centers. The first such exhibits were designed and produced by Charles & Ray Eames, the famously iconic American designers who practically invented what "modern" was to Americans in the mid 20th century. (The Eames' were a husband and wife team, not brothers, Ray was the wife's name).

Charles Eames inspects a display at his IBM MATHEMATICA exhibit at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/6967541553_60fe6beedd_c.jpg

This latest IBM THINK exhibit still uses fonts and aesthetic treatments that harken back to one of the most famous exhibits the Eames designed, the MATHEMATICA exhibit that debuted in 1961 at the California Museum of Science & Industry in LA, and was then cloned for the New York World's Fair and then went on a big city tour of America after the fair.

The new THINK exhibit from IBM has also been on an American tour of sorts, after opening to great critical response in New York City it has now stopped at Epcot. No tuxedo required, just an ability to stop and think about things for a few moments.

Bravo to IBM! A great American company giving back to the country.

 

[MickeyPeace]

I experienced this exhibition in NYC last year at Lincoln Center. It was very interesting and worth investigating. Pics don't do it justice. Its a good fit at Epcot.

 

[dreamscometrue]

Huh? A bunch of backlit pictures, no technology? Did IBM go into the low budget PR business?

Not what it is at all.

 

[gsimpson]

"IBM" and "innovative gadgets to test and play with" do not belong in the same sentence. They got out of that business a long time ago.

IBM is one of the most innovative companies around bar none. While it is true they don't chase the latest fad and they don't have ubber cool celebrities trying to act like they understand the product or what it means to society, they do produce new technologies that can have a major impact. Blue Genie, as super computer that has mapped the human genome and is orders of magnitude ahead in data handling and has been deeply useful to medical research, Deep Blue, a super computer that is geared to meterologic and geological data mining, and of course their latest Watson, who although amusing while watching play Jeopardy also happens to be moving medicine ahead by leaps and bounds. Going back a little further, IBM was the prime contractor who created DARPAnet, which of course evolved into the Internet, they created the Sabre, which was the first on line transaction system in the world (created for American Airlines). If you define innovation as incrementally improving upon someone elses, or for that matter your own work, then I guess they are not innovative. I am not affilieated or in any way earning anything from IBM or its divisions however I can still admire one of the few companies in the world that is still investing huge sums of money into pure research.

 

[dreamscometrue]

This and TT2.0 are great recent additions. Not everything will change overnight, but inclining can be by degrees too.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Can't really tell how "boring" it is from pictures, but it looks like it is something that belong in Innoventions... I may have to check it out.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Just want to add... If you go to this exhibit or research IBM online you'd be pretty amazed at what they do. I remember owning an IBM computer and now they don't make any. Rather they just revolutionize your healthcare and create systems that will lead to better healthcare.

 

[bhg469]

IBM is one of the most innovative companies around bar none. While it is true they don't chase the latest fad and they don't have ubber cool celebrities trying to act like they understand the product or what it means to society, they do produce new technologies that can have a major impact. Blue Genie, as super computer that has mapped the human genome and is orders of magnitude ahead in data handling and has been deeply useful to medical research, Deep Blue, a super computer that is geared to meterologic and geological data mining, and of course their latest Watson, who although amusing while watching play Jeopardy also happens to be moving medicine ahead by leaps and bounds. Going back a little further, IBM was the prime contractor who created DARPAnet, which of course evolved into the Internet, they created the Sabre, which was the first on line transaction system in the world (created for American Airlines). If you define innovation as incrementally improving upon someone elses, or for that matter your own work, then I guess they are not innovative. I am not affilieated or in any way earning anything from IBM or its divisions however I can still admire one of the few companies in the world that is still investing huge sums of money into pure research.

You're smart! I like you!

 

[yeti]

Not sure what's so boring here...maybe people should temper their expectations soon as they hear "Innoventions exhibit"?

I think it's quite nice. But then again, I actually appreciate art galleries.

 

[GoofGoof]

Good add. Imagine something in EPCOT that is educational without cartoon characters? What is this 1985?

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm sure if it was gleaming white and had apple logos everywhere people would scream about it. I think it looks great and I hope I get to see it in person soon.

I would like to see that too. Apple and EPCOT seem like a great match to me.

 

[bhg469]

I would like to see that too. Apple and EPCOT seem like a great match to me.

I'm sorry I meant it to sound like a horrible idea. I guess my sarcasm didn't come through. Apple is not nearly as innovative in ways that change the world as IBM. Yes apple improved touch screens but IBM uses computing power that literally saves lives.

 

[muteki]

IBM is one of the most innovative companies around bar none....

I should have added more emphasis on "gadgets" in my original post. Anyone walking into an IBM exhibit nowadays expecting to see a bunch of neat stuff to play with will be disappointed. They are not a consumer-centric company and I imagine this exhibit will be perceived as PR by average consumers. (Which, granted, is what a lot of stuff in innoventions is)

This is not really a dig at IBM for not being more like apple, Google, etc. They are plenty innovative as you state, but none of your examples were ever intended for consumer use. Any of their divisions that used to make stuff the average Joe could buy they have either sold off or would love to if they haven't already.

As for being a great American company, well...they are based out of America I guess. They aren't any more american than any other giant multinational corporation.

 

[Epcotbob]

No, you don't need to do that. IBM's public exhibits like this dating back almost fifty years were always aimed at the average person; assuming that average person had at least a high school education and more than a passing interest in the world around him. I think if you give it a chance, you'll find the IBM THINK exhibit to be quite interesting, as others already have.

Fair enough, I'll give it a chance...we'll be down there this fall sometime.

I don't mean to sound like an un-cultured hick. As a matter of fact I worked for Sperry-Univac (later Unisys), the company that invented the computer, for 25 years designing and testing large scale, water cooled, multiprocessor and scientific mainframes. I wrote firmware for the Unisys Extended Processing complex - a database record locking innovation for multi-host clustered mainframe environments. I helped design Unisys Intel based enterprise servers that used a proprietary processor cross-bar architecture to allow clustering of up to 96 Xeon processor cores in one system image.

Currently I'm working for a multi-national medical device company helping design and test an implantable DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) nuerostimulator modified to read and store in memory, alpha, beta and theta band brainwaves to use for closed-loop therapy for patients with epilepsy, Parkinsons and essential tremor.

I say all of that to dispel any notion that I simply don't understand or appreciate technology.

 

[TP2000]

They are not a consumer-centric company and I imagine this exhibit will be perceived as PR by average consumers. (Which, granted, is what a lot of stuff in innoventions is)

That is exactly what Epcot Center's Future World was built to do; showcase American commerce and industry to consumers, with a soft sell as Imagineered by Disney entertainers.

Walt Disney was even more blunt about what he wanted his EPCOT to be, the EPCOT that was never built in Florida.

"EPCOT will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities.... EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise." -Walt Disney, 1966

This latest IBM exhibit at Innoventions bears more than a passing resemblance, literally thanks to its 1960's Eames aesthetic and creatively thanks to its subject matter, to the 1960's ideals of what Walt's EPCOT was going to be. But IBM's new exhibit is very much a return to EPCOT Center circa 1982; a big, famous American company sponsoring a snazzy edutainment exhibit.

I remember quite vividly seeing IBM's huge MATHEMATICA exhibit when it was at Seattle's Pacific Science Center in the late 1960's. ('68?) I'm looking forward to seeing the THINK exhibit later this spring!

 

[Dreamers Empire]

Fair enough, I'll give it a chance...we'll be down there this fall sometime.

I don't mean to sound like an un-cultured hick. As a matter of fact I worked for Sperry-Univac (later Unisys), the company that invented the computer, for 25 years designing and testing large scale, water cooled, multiprocessor and scientific mainframes. I wrote firmware for the Unisys Extended Processing complex - a database record locking innovation for multi-host clustered mainframe environments. I helped design Unisys Intel based enterprise servers that used a proprietary processor cross-bar architecture to allow clustering of up to 96 Xeon processor cores in one system image.

Currently I'm working for a multi-national medical device company helping design and test an implantable DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) nuerostimulator modified to read and store in memory, alpha, beta and theta band brainwaves to use for closed-loop therapy for patients with epilepsy, Parkinsons and essential tremor.

I say all of that to dispel any notion that I simply don't understand or appreciate technology.

Good point. I suspect I was seeing more the blind kool aid drinking loyalism as if some Disney Execs were going to read this and like your post, or offer an Imagineering position. In truth, who knows all the details on how IBM gets an exhibit like this past the old school Imagineers, and I'm sure there are plenty of them, who shudder every time they think of what Epcot is becoming. That said, I'm sure being more open to an exhibit like this 'seems' to show a superior intellect. I'll say it again, we'll see how often a line forms to see this.