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creating has wide ranging implications that may improve the quality of life of others,
you’re on the right track and need not worry about how you’ve managed to get
there. The point is at the end of the day, some unique, imaginative and innovative
concepts would have been explored and worked with.
What they say about the graduates of MIT Media Labs is that, no matter what they
do within the realms of the “free thinking” institute, they do great jobs within the
companies they set up. MIT Media Labs’ USP (Unique selling proposition) is the
thought leaders it creates. And most of us will agree it is the distinctive ideas that
create great businesses and companies. It is the small acorns that create the massive
oaks. The US IT backyard is simply littered with examples of companies that
came from simple, yet farm fresh ideas! Take Hotmail, Junglee.com, or even
Napster, the site with an over two million fan following that promoted an off-beat
theme of sharing music. Similarly, the most touted concept today
—
peer-to–peer
computing is expected to be revolutionized by a 23 year old programmer named
Gene Kahn, who is on the brink of launching an absolutely pioneering search engine.
MIT Media Labs Asia too will play host to such green-behind-the-gills Einsteins.
A 19–year old animation wizard from Mumbai, might just be the guy responsible
for taking Interactive TV to new heights. A 24-year old science graduate from
Pune could become the creator of India’s very first sub
—
Rs. 10,000 PC
(
relieving Mr. Yashwant Sinha of the burden of drastically reducing duties on computer
hardware.) ! A Chennai graphics genius could be the brains behind a unique e-wallet
that not only virtually pays your bills, but also reconciles your accounts at the
press of a key.
But, the most promising work could come from a collaboration between Bollywood
and MIT Media Labs. Imagine all the
Jurassic Park
kind of movies India can make
and the kind of morphing and special effects possible on the images of Aishwarya Rai
and Hrithik Roshan !
MIT Media Labs Asia in fact is expected to mirror its counterparts in the US
and Ireland where almost every day is a new day and where an original idea is
born every minute. The MIT Media Labs in the US, which was formed almost
21
years ago, is today renowned for its cutting edge projects in the areas of
cognition, learning, music, design, video and computers. The Lab has been
pioneering collaborations between academia and the industry and provides a
unique environment to explore basic research and applications without regard to
traditional divisions among disciplines.
