Argument
In October 1998, there were a number of newspapers, journals, and magazines defining the new Tech Museum of Innovation as the hopes and dreams of the Silicon Valley. The Tech Museum holds a special place in Silicon Valley's dreams because of the vision, intelligence, persistence, and commitment of dreamers; consequently, those qualities have created new businesses, new industries, new fortunes, and a vital community with bright prospects for the future, and those same qualities are at the heart of the valley's latest dream come true (Harris, 1998, p. 1). Streisand (1998), Rich (1998), and Avery (1998) propose, "we explore the new museum and its connections to Silicon Valley that is brimming with technology firms has always lacked a solid symbol for tourists to zoom their cameras on" (p. 53, 5, and C1). Block (1998) also agrees, "The Tech Museum captures the essence of Silicon Valley's history and transformation, and it will tell the Valley's story to visitors from around the world (p. 41). At this moment, the Silicon Valley will be projected to lure tourists by The Tech Museum of Innovation. In other words, The Tech Museum of Innovation has become the icon of Silicon Valley.
Nevertheless, most articles depict The Tech Museum as a typical tourist site in San Jose. The way authors look at the Tech Museum is not different from that of other tourist sites. If so, what differs about the Tech Museum that makes it the representation of San Jose? In fact, The Tech Museum has its own uniqueness that might be scrutinized as the hallmark of San Jose. According to Wordsmyth Thesaurus dictionary, monument means, "something maintained in the public interest for its aesthetic or historical significance" (Wordsmyth, 2000, p. 2). "A monument is defined as including any artificial or partly artificial building, structure, or erection whether above or below the surface of the ground which has been artificially carved, sculptured or worked upon or which appears to have been purposely put or arranged in position, and any prehistoric or ancient tomb, grave or burial deposit, but does not include any building which is for the time being habitually used for ecclesiastical purposes" (The National Monuments and Architectural Protection Division, 1998, p. 2). In addition, Jackson (1980) distinguishes the two categories of monuments, "Hortatory monument is a guide to the future that determines our actions in the years to come, and Ahistorical monument is cerebrating a different past that is a vernacular past, a golden age where there are no dates or names, simply a sense of the way it used to be" (p. 93 and 95). According to the definitions and classifications of monuments given earlier, I was wondering whether a monument had to be a representation only for people, whether it could be a representation for places, and if so, whether this new kind of monument could be classified in Jackson's typology. Otherwise, what should we name this new kind of monument? And, are there any other monuments that can be categorized in this group?
To scrutinize The Tech Museum of Innovation, I will employ the method of textual analysis for this study. So far, I have collected a number of artifacts related to the site. There are pamphlets, postcards, websites, compact disks, and public relations report summary documents. Additionally, I have done some interviews with public relations officers, front desk officers, ticket sellers, and visitors. In the analysis, the artifacts will be gathered and inspected along with the information from the interviews. To answer my research question, "How does The Tech Museum represent San Jose as a particular kind of tourist site: the Tech capital of the world?" I will divide the analysis into the three areas: Why should The Tech be considered as the monument of Silicon Valley? How does this monument work? And, What influences does this monument have to tourists?
Why should The Tech be considered as the monument of Silicon Valley?
Firstly, I will investigate the question, "Why should The Tech be considered as the monument of Silicon Valley?" The Tech Museum of Innovation plays a significant role not only as a famous tourist site but also as the representation of San Jose. San Jose is the capital of Silicon Valley. In the twentieth century, Silicon Valley, the place where the "Silicon Rush" has emerged, is identified as a vital landmark, compared with the "Gold Rush", which occurred fifty-two years ago. Due to the importance of the Silicon Valley, this landmark should be stated as a memorable place in order to remind people in future generations to recognize this meaningful place. Referring to tourist sites, The Tech Museum is the only site in San Jose that is able to visibly portray images of the Silicon Valley. As I mentioned in the literature review section, Block (1998) observes that The Tech Museum captures the essence of Silicon Valley's history and transformation, and it will tell the Valley's story to visitors from around the world (p. 41). In this sense, when we value the Tech Museum as a reminder of Silicon Valley, the Tech Museum can be identified as the monument of Silicon Valley. The Tech, nonetheless, might not be characterized as Jackson's typology of different kinds of monuments, neither Hortatory nor Ahistorical monument (Jackson, 1980, p. 93 and 95). It can be classified as another category of monuments. Blair, Jeppeson, & Pucci (1991) define another kind of monuments, so-called "public commemorative monuments", as rhetorical products of some significance that are selected from history those events, individuals, places, and ideas (p. 263). As a result, monuments can be a symbol not only for people but also for places. This is obvious that the Tech Museum can be recognized as a monument, the monument of Silicon Valley. After we proved that a monument could be the representation both for people and for places, The Tech Museum of Innovation could be recognized as the monument of the Silicon Valley. At this point, I would like to further scrutinize how the Tech Museum works as the monument of the Silicon Valley.
How does this monument work?
Secondly, I will further investigate that if The Tech Museum can be identified as the monument of the Silicon Valley, how this monument works. The Tech Museum is created as a miniature of the Silicon Valley. To compare between the definition of the Silicon Valley and The Tech Museum of Innovation projected on the Tech Museum website and pamphlet, the presentations of The Tech are followed by the depiction of the Silicon Valley. "Silicon Valley is a place where technology and people from around the world create the innovations that change our lives" (The Tech Museum of Innovation, 1999, p. 1). Correspondingly, "The Tech is a place about real technologyÉ changing the way people work and play, create, harness and share information, how innovate, how we do things differently" (The Tech Museum of Innovation, 1999, p. 2). The Tech Museum makes the Silicon Valley visible and tangible. The word, "Silicon Valley" is likely recognized as abstract. For example, if a tourist asks us, "What is the Silicon Valley?" we might be able to answer. Yet, if s/he further asks, "What things does the Silicon Valley have?" how can we indicate those things to the tourist? Are the big computer companies such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, and IBM attractive enough for the tourist's attention? Does the tourist come to San Jose merely to see the buildings of Apple, Hewlett Packard, and IBM? Outstandingly, this is a salient mission of the Tech Museum. The Tech Museum is a powerful tool to demonstrate the Silicon Valley in terms of concrete, instead of abstract. Peter Giles, the CEO of the Tech Museum, points out this purpose of The Tech, "what is different and unique and extraordinary about Silicon Valley and how can we capture that in an institution that by its definition is fixed in time and space. We had to do a tech, the Tech" (Sweeney, 1998, p. 2).
Furthermore, the exhibitions of the Tech Museum project the images of technological innovations in Silicon Valley. As I discussed in the description section, the exhibitions of The Tech are divided into four themes: communication, exploration, innovation, and life tech. Along with the pictures of The Tech's postcards, each postcard represents as the picture of each theme uniquely. For instance, the postcard of innovation illustrates a picture of the big rail of roller coaster that is set up on the top of the gallery; meanwhile, visitors, under the big rail, are sitting in front of the computer and creating their own roller coaster. In the same way, the pictures in pamphlets, websites, and compact disks of the Tech Museum display the innovations of technologies such as satellites, global communication networks, astronauts, robots, 3-D models, spacecrafts, and an IMAX Dome Theater. Technologies that have been recognized for scientists, engineers, and programmers are being projected to people in all generations. Emily Routman, a Tech visitor, suggests, "Technology's brought us to some scary new places where we have to make choices. So, we're trying to explain the choices" (Scheinin, 1998, p. 1A). In addition to the concept of sublime, The Tech Museum of Innovation can be considered as the icon of sublime. "A cult of the sublime is all that surprises the soul, all that creates a sense of fear" (Lofgren, 1999, p. 27). Through the galleries and exhibitions of The Tech, visitors get heightened sensations by facing the innovations of technologies in reality. Richard Butler, a 10-year old Tech visitor, states, "I want to see the roller coaster (exhibit)É You make your own and then you get a virtual-reality ride on it. I think that's cool" (Pope, 1998, p. 18A). Accordingly, the innovations of technologies in Silicon Valley are projected to people around the world through the various presentations of The Tech Museum of Innovation. So far, we have experienced the Tech Museum in terms of the monument of the Silicon Valley and explored how this monument works. Next, I would like to additionally inspect the influences that The Tech, so-called "the monument of Silicon Valley", has to tourists.
What influences does this monument have to tourists?
Lastly, the question, "What influences does this monument have to visitors?" will be explored. To answer this question, I will inspect influences from both the concrete and abstract features of the Tech Museum. Considering the concrete features, the building of the Tech Museum can be recognized as mimetic architecture. Liebs (1998) defines mimetic or programmatic architecture as structures disguised as other objects have been classified under a variety of labels (p. 48). Even though the building of the Tech Museum cannot tell exactly what it looks like, the whole image of the building is depicted as a big object that noticeably intrigues people. People who see this building will be eager to know what it is and what is inside this fantastic building. This is the key strategy of The Tech in influencing people to get into the Tech Museum. In regard to the abstract features, the Tech Museum not only represents the innovations of technologies in the Silicon Valley but also persuades people to get involved with the new technologies. According to the interviews with front desk officers and ticket sellers, Tech visitors include people in generations such as children, businessmen, collage students, and families. The Tech Museum plays a significant role in encouraging people to experience new technologies. These are some words from Peter Giles, the CEO of the Tech Museum, "our purpose is to inspire the innovator in everyone. We're trying to reach the grandparents, the parents and the children because we are about trying to carry forward and extend the values that have made Silicon Valley what it is" (Sweeney, 1998, p. 2). To follow the goal, the pamphlets and websites of the Tech Museum are focused on persuading innovators to experience new technologies. In this sense, we have noticed that the Tech Museum is informing all people that high technologies are not something far away from them anymore. Everybody can access and experience them. This is an example of this expectation, "every kid who walks out of there should be able to make some choices right now about the way they're going to use technology" (Scheinin, 1998, p. 1A).
In summary, The Tech Museum of Innovation has been scrutinized in detail through this paper. The assumption of the study is initially depicted, "The Tech Museum is the representation of San Jose." Then the research question is indicated, "How does The Tech Museum represent San Jose as a particular kind of tourist site: the Tech capital of the world?" In order to answer that question, I have provided the history and background of the Tech Museum and some arguments from academic and journalistic research. The method of textual analysis is employed to the study along with the collection of artifacts such as pamphlets, postcards, websites, compact disks, and public relations report summary documents. The interviews with public relations officers, front desk officers, ticket sellers, and visitors are also included in the analysis. For the analysis of the Tech Museum, I have broken down the research question to three critical puzzles: Why should the Tech Museum be considered as the monument of Silicon Valley? How does this monument work? And, What influences does this monument have to tourists? From now on, researchers should further investigate The Tech Museum of Innovation in terms of new kind of monument. What should we name this new category of monuments? Besides the Tech Museum, are there any monuments that can be classified in this category? Additionally, the concept of hyperreality should be the new issue of intrigue for researchers. The presentations of the Tech Museum enhance people's experiences and perceptions of hyperreality. If so, what effects does hyperreality have to people over time? Will people be able to distinguish what is the real and what is the hyperreal?
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