12 Virtual Environments: The Coca-Cola Company and IBM

Virtual reality is like mainlining television.

--William Gibson

We discussed in Chapter 9, “Influencer Value: The IBM Case Study,” the use of “Jams” to come up with new ideas for companies. IBM’s focus on virtual environments was one of the top ten ideas from our InnovationJam. For IBM, it began in earnest when our chief executive and chairman, Sam Palmisano, stood outside the Forbidden City (see Figure 12.1), a space in the virtual environment created by IBM with the Chinese government. Through his avatar, he declared that $130 million of investment over the next two years would be made in virtual environments.

Figure 12.1. IBM’s CEO in Second Life.

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