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Early in the fall, the rumors began. People started whispering about the new building being constructed to house the AI Lab. The buzz was that there would be a large wherehouse space in the new building, intended to house a number of graduate students. But with its high ceilings and large interior space, constructing traditional offices in the wherehouse would be impractical. The proposed solution: Have the graduate students build their offices out of cardboard.
Controversy raged for days around the lab. Some outraged students argued that the new cardboard offices, or "pods", would look like trash heaps, collect dirt, be a fire hazareds and provide little privacy. Others defended the idea, citing it as an opportunity to unleash the creativity of the graduate students and lauding the sound proof quality of cardboard. They envisioned little Utopian villages of pods everywhere. Dissenters envisioned bands of roving pod people fighting for territory in the vast wharehouse. As the pod debates raged, the lab threatened to collapse into lawlessness.
And then, a light in the darkness. Two brave souls, Mike Oltmans and Jaime Teevan, decided to resolve the issue like scientists, through careful and controlled experimentation. On November 11, 2001, they constructed pods in the 7th floor playroom. Since then, they have made the pods their homes.
Welcome to the Web site dedicated to their journey.