In 1837, Samuel Morse invented the telegraph.
In 1879, Thomas Edison introduced his light bulb to the world.
And in April 2014, the Samsung Innovation Museum opened at the South Korean company’s headquarters, which will house some of the modern era’s most iconic inventions, placing them in a narrative of innovation that culminates with Samsung’s smartphones, curved-screen televisions and semiconductors.
It is an audacious move, and it comes as Samsung squares off in patent court against Apple Inc., a bitter rival and competing claimant to Thomas Edison’s mantle.
The opening of the five-story museum, which occupies about 118,000 square feet (10,950 square meters) at Samsung Digital City in Suwon, South Korea, is the company’s latest move in recent days to burnish its public image as an innovator rather than as a “fast follower,” a label with which it is often tagged.
Just last week, Samsung launched a website aimed at establishing the company as a “design powerhouse” in the public imagination, liberally sprinkling the site with words such as “inspiration,” “meaningful,” “design philosophy” and “creative processes” to connote innovation.
The innovation museum takes this all a step further, physically placing Samsung in a centuries-long heritage of creativity and inspiration.
Visitors to the innovation museum–which the company has given the cutting-edge abbreviation “S/I/M”–will be presented with three exhibition halls.
The first, dubbed “The Age of Inventors,” covers everything from the 18th to the 20th centuries, featuring original models of a Leyden jar from the 1740s, an Edison filament lamp and a Maytag electric washing machine from 1911. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, will also get a prominent mention.
The second, called “The Age of Industry Innovation,” spans the invention of the transistor and the history of the semiconductor, culminating in the third hall, called “The Age of Creation” and dedicated to Samsung’s vision of the future.
Samsung isn’t trying to hog all the glory here. In addition to its own products, the company says that the museum will highlight pioneering products from storied technology names including Siemens, AT&T, Philips, General Electric, NEC, Sony, Intel, Sharp, Nokia and Motorola. (Notice anyone missing?)
The S/I/M will be open Monday to Saturday, with reservations required for weekday visits.
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