Think

“THINK” is a motto coined by Thomas J. Watson in December, 1911, while managing the sales and advertising departments at the National Cash Register Company. 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. In 1914 Watson brought the motto with him to Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR), which later became IBM. International Time Recording, one of the companies merged to form CTR published a magazine, Time, for employees and customers that, in 1935, IBM would rename THINK. IBM produced a THINK exhibit at New York City’s Lincoln Center in September 2011, and continues to use the motto. THINK is also an IBM trademark; IBM named its laptop computers ThinkPads and named a line of business-oriented desktop computers ThinkCentre. The Apple slogan “Think Different” has been widely taken as a response to IBM’s THINK. “THINK” entered the popular culture, often in a humorous context. For early examples, see Corey Ford’s Guide to Thimking. Mad magazine also used a “THIMK” parody motto along with using the word directly on the cover of the last Mad comic book issue #23 from May 1955.