"Think" (stylized as THINK) is a slogan associated with the American multinational technology company

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

History

The "THINK" slogan was first used by

Thomas J. Watson Thomas John Watson Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was an American businessman who was the chairman and CEO of IBM. He oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM's management sty ...

in December 1911, while managing the sales and advertising departments at the

National Cash Register Company NCR Voyix Corporation, previously known as NCR Corporation and National Cash Register, is a global software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and electronic products. It manufactured self-service kios ...

. At an uninspiring sales meeting, Watson interrupted, saying "The trouble with every one of us is that we don't think enough. We don't get paid for working with our feet — we get paid for working with our heads". Watson then wrote THINK on the easel. Asked later what he meant by the slogan, Watson replied, "By THINK I mean take everything into consideration. I refuse to make the sign more specific. If a man just sees THINK, he'll find out what I mean. We're not interested in a logic course." In 1914, Watson took the slogan with him to the

Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) was a holding company of manufacturers of record-keeping and measuring systems; it was subsequently known as IBM. In 1911, the financier and noted trust organizer Charles R. Flint, called the ...

(CTR) and its subsidiaries, all of which later became

. International Time Recording, one of the subsidiaries, published a magazine for employees and customers, named ''Time'', which, in 1935, IBM would rename to THINK. IBM continues to use the slogan. THINK is also an IBM trademark; IBM named its laptop computers

ThinkPad ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop and Tablet computer, tablet computers produced since 1992. It was originally designed, created and manufactured by the American IBM, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. IBM Acquisit ...

s, named a line of business-oriented desktop computers

ThinkCentre ThinkCentre is a brand of business-oriented desktop computers, the early models of which were designed, developed and marketed by International Business Machines (IBM) since 2003. In 2005, IBM sold its PC business, including the ThinkCentre ...

and the monitors

ThinkVision ThinkVision displays are high-end computer monitors manufactured, designed and developed by IBM and Lenovo. ThinkVision products are built using the design language of other Think devices such as the ThinkPad line of notebook computers and the Th ...

. Since 2018,

's main conference is called IBM Think. The

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

slogan " Think different," meaning "Think differently", first used in 1997, has been widely taken as a response to IBM's THINK. File:Think signs in several languages.em.jpg, THINK signs in several languages File:IBM 403 Accounting Machine.jpg, IBM THINK sign at a punched card data processing facility using IBM equipment, File:THINK at Lincoln Center by IBM.jpg, IBM Think-themed exhibit at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in 2011 File:IBM Poughkeepsie Think Path.JPG, A walking path at the IBM

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

site, with the word "THINK" File:IBM Think D100 Test.jpg, IBM Think sign

References

External links

IBM Think
(

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

archived versions) {{IBM IBM American advertising slogans 1910s neologisms 1911 quotations

History

See also

References

External links