A Publication for West Coast Alumni and Friends
Vol. 1, No. 1 / January 2001 - California Connection: Making a Difference Where Technology Meets Real Life

Keeping It Simple

"We're mostly technical people at Think Outside, but I know from my WPI education how important it is for an engineer to understand the world of business beyond engineering."

In the crinkly 1976 newspaper article about Philip G. Baker, the young Polaroid principal engineer says, "Cameras can bring people together."

Today, as president and co-founder of his own company, the fast-growing Think Outside Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif., he is still pondering the relationship of technology to society.

"We are developing products based on need and not on what technology is capable of doing," Baker says. "There are too many products created just because the technology exists to do it, and not because anyone really wants it. We want products that do not force people to adopt or change habits. It seems like such a simple approach, yet it is often ignored."

Baker's approach has drawn praise--and important recognition. In November, PC Magazine honored Think Outside's Stowaway line of keyboards with its Technical Excellence Award for Best Design. The product is the first full-size, no-compromise keyboard that folds to pocket size. Stowaways are distributed and sold worldwide by Palm Inc. for all models of Palm organizers, and by Targus Group International Inc. for the Handspring Visor and Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Sony Pocket PCs.

"We're mostly technical people at Think Outside," Baker says, "but I know from my WPI education how important it is for an engineer to understand the world of business beyond engineering. In most cases the engineering component is critical and a necessity, but it often accounts for only 20 percent of why a product succeeds, with the rest being the people, the market, the environment, execution and a lot of luck."

Baker, who holds 36 patents, worked in senior product development and product management posts at Polaroid, Proxima, Apple, Polycom and Seiko Instruments before co-founding Think Outside.

"I've always been pretty risk averse," he says, "and through much of my career I would defer to the values of big companies, thinking they must know more because they are bigger. But in general, things are often less than what they seem. I now advise individuals to strengthen their skills both to become more valuable to their employer and to enrich their own experiences and value. Then a career, regardless of the company, can prove satisfying and provide many new opportunities.

"A few years ago, never ever having been out of a job -- even for one day -- I decided that I could do better on my own, and I joined in the founding of Think Outside. Of course, now I wish I had done it years ago. But in this position I used most of my previous experience in engineering, manufacturing, business, marketing, and management skills."

Before he moved west, Baker earned an M.S. at Yale and an MBA at Northeastern. But what he remembers most about WPI are the quality of the instructors, the focus on real learning, and the variety of his studies. "In particular, I recall and prize the combination of the technical learning, the practical experiences, and liberal studies. I think WPI gave me the best education and a truly positive experience."