Expert Oracle Database Architecture: 9i and 10g Programming Techniques and Solutions

“THINK.” In 1914, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. joined the company that was to become IBM, and he brought with him this simple one-word motto. It was an exhortation to all IBM employees, no matter their role, to take care in decision-making and do their jobs with intelligence. “THINK” soon became an icon, appearing on publications, calendars, and plaques in the offices of many IT and business managers within and outside IBM, and even in The New Yorker magazine cartoons. “THINK” was a good idea in 1914, and it is a good idea now. “Think different.” More recently, Apple Computer used this slogan in a long-running advertising campaign to revitalize the company’s brand, and even more important, to revo- tionize how people think of technology in their daily lives. Instead of saying “think differently,” suggesting how to think, Apple’s slogan used the word “different” as the object of the verb “think,” suggesting what to think (as in, “think big”). The advertising campaign emphasized creativity and creative people, with the implication that Apple’s computers uniquely enable innovative solutions and artistic achievements. When I joined Oracle Corporation (then Relational Software Incorporated) back in 1981, database systems incorporating the relational model were a new, emerging technology.