Early in 1982, Jim Dezell, IBM Executive Vice President, met with Paul Evans at IBM’s Entry System’s development lab in Boca Raton, Florida, where Paul had been managing the development and evaluation of Writing to Read, an IBM PC application that taught pre-school children how to read and write. Based on the success of Writing to Read and Dezell’s interest in education, in 1985 Jim was given the charge by then CEO of IBM, John Akers, to start a new company in IBM, IBM Educational Systems, which would be based in Atlanta, Georgia. Jim asked Paul to move to Atlanta and help him build the new company and develop and oversee educational software applications for the IBM PC.
Soon thereafter, using the same approach that Writing to Read used to teach kindergarten children to read and write, IBM Educational Systems converted IBM’s videodisc training system into a multimedia program (i.e., PALS, Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System) that could be used to teach illiterate adults to read and write. The program was tested successfully to help adult Atlanta sanitation workers and prison inmates learn to read and write.
Driven by IBM’s corporate interest in educational policy, in addition to software development, Paul Evans also was given the task of representing IBM Educational Systems in Washington, D.C. with government agencies, legislative staff, and professional associations. There he analyzed pending legislation regarding emerging technology and education and prepared congressional testimony for IBM Educational Systems presentations in congressional hearings including presenting the educational software programs, Writing To Read and PALS, to the Congressional Black Caucus.
In 1989, working with a group of Hollywood filmmakers, Paul helped create the celebrated “Ulysses” interactive multimedia program.
IBM’s Ulysses prototype was the first interactive multimedia program on the classics. The software was presented at TED 3 (Monterey, California) and TED 4 (Kobe, Japan) where it set the stage for IBM’s Illuminated Books and Manuscripts.
IBM Ulysses Demo: Illuminated Books and Manuscripts (1992)The “IBM Ulysses demo” was a pioneering multimedia educational program from IBM Educational Systems, part of the Illuminated Books and Manuscripts series released in 1992. This was one of the first interactive CD-ROM/videodisc experiences designed for classrooms and scholars, showcasing Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses” as a “living text.” It integrated the full poem with audio readings, video interviews, historical context, scholarly analysis, and visuals—running on IBM PS/2 systems with OS/2 or DOS, requiring a CD-ROM drive and sound card. Priced around $2,000 per title, it was a high-end demo of early multimedia tech, aimed at “illuminating” classic literature through hyperlinks, audio narration, and expert commentary (e.g., from critics and historians).The demo highlighted themes of adventure and resilience in Tennyson’s poem, much like the symbolic connection to the Tiananmen Square —both embodying defiance and the human spirit. IBM presented it at events like TED conferences to showcase their push into multimedia, competing with Apple’s HyperCard.
Key Features of the Ulysses Module
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Core Text | Full poem displayed on-screen with hyperlinked annotations. |
| Audio | Professional voice recordings of the poem, plus spoken interpretations. |
| Video | Clips of scholars (e.g., discussing Victorian context) and dramatizations. |
| Context Tools | “Define” (glossary), “Interpret” (critic essays/videos), “Method” (analysis of form/ideas). |
| Interactivity | Users could explore layers like historical background or rhetorical breakdowns. |
Media Rhetorics of Ulysses Montague
The image of the unnamed student standing in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, is often interpreted as a powerful symbol of individual courage and resistance against overwhelming force. This resonates with themes in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses,” which celebrates the pursuit of knowledge, adventure, and the indomitable human spirit despite age or adversity.In “Ulysses,” the aging hero rejects a quiet life, declaring, “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink / Life to the lees.” This mirrors the student’s bold stand, embodying a refusal to yield to oppression. The poem’s line, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,” particularly aligns with the student’s solitary defiance, as he faced the tanks to demand change during the pro-democracy protests. Both figures represent a commitment to ideals—Ulysses to exploration, the student to freedom—against insurmountable odds, highlighting a universal theme of human resilience.This connection is symbolic rather than historical, as the poem predates the event by over a century, but it offers a literary lens to view the student’s act as an enduring testament to the human will to challenge authority.
IBM EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS 1982-1992
Between 1990 and 1992, Dr. Evans and his Knowledge Systems Development team produced a series of pioneering and award-winning IBM multimedia applications and demonstrated them at the 1991 keynote address to the International Multimedia Conference in Tokyo.
Another early IBM prototype was based on the Japanese classic movie, RAN, and was shown in the fall of 1990 at the first International Multimedia Festival in Tokyo, Japan and established design requirements for IBM’s Columbus: Encounter, Discovery and Beyond.
During 1992 Paul was given the mission to build a startup company within IBM in Atlanta, Georgia, the Multimedia Publishing Studio, that would build, publish, and market interactive multimedia titles for the consumer marketplace.
IBM 1988 FILM, TECHNOLOGY, LEARNING AND SELF IMAGE
The first of IBM’s multimedia educational programs to be published was designed for classroom use and included tools for teachers and students to create their own interactive projects. Five text-based formats illuminated with other media included: a poem (Ulysses), a letter (a Letter From Birmingham Jail), a play (Hamlet), a document (The Bill of Rights); and, a biography (Black Elk Speaks).
The video, text, graphics and audio libraries included with the poetry program provided an in-depth perspective on Alfred Lord Tennyson’s immortal poem on the Greek mythological hero. The accompanying tools can be used by teachers and students to “illuminate” other poetry as well.
“The Letter from Birmingham Jail” contains civil rights reflections written by Dr. Martin Luther King while confined to the Birmingham City Jail. Multimedia commentary is provided by Civil Rights leaders including Ambassador Andrew Young.
“Hamlet” is a multimedia study of Shakespeare’s classic play, including modern-day perspectives and interpretations of the work. Literary scholars provide points of view on the value of the work in contemporary society.
“Black Elk Speaks” is a multimedia program based on the biography of Black Elk, the Sioux Indian who shared with poet John J. Neihardt, his story of Native American struggles, conflict and loss in effort to preserve Native American religion and the sacred Ghost Dance.
The “Bill of Rights” is illuminated by video, text, graphics and audio libraries through text interpretation, scholarly interviews, and historical records analysis. The work is examined with media examples that support or challenge the text.
The first of the Multimedia Publishing Studio’s large interactive knowledge systems Columbus was designed for classroom use and contains some 180 interactive hours of multimedia content.The Columbus multimedia program examines exploration from Columbus’ voyage to the moon landing and how these events affected the world today.
The Columbus program combined text, photographs, music, sound, film, and video. Rights were acquired for the use of historical documents, images, film, video and audio materials. Columbus’s 14th generation grand daughter and her mother were interviewed reading Columbus’s original Diary of his voyage, in Spanish and English.
In May of 1992 Evans led The Multimedia Publishing Studio into the consumer CD ROM titles business. A Sony Corporation joint venture resulted in multiple CD Rom titles for Sony’s CD ROM XA player, the world’s first multimedia hand held player.
Paul also signed strategic partnerships with diverse content development companies including McGraw-Hill, Twentieth Century Fox, Turner, Warner Brothers, the Louvre, the British Museum, “Star Wars” Entertainment, The Biosphere, and IBM-Japan.
PAUL EVANS AND TRUDY EVANS ( trudyevans.com ) IBM JAPAN
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