The ThinkPad At 25 (fastcodesign.com)

harrymcc writes: On October 5 1992, IBM released a laptop called the ThinkPad 700C. It sported an unusually good color screen, a pointing device called the TrackPoint II, and a distinctive black case. It was an immediate hit. And remarkably, many of the things that made that ThinkPad a ThinkPad remain true of today's models. I talked to some of the people responsible for the line -- which IBM sold to Lenovo in 2005 -- about why it's one of the few consistent brands of technology's last quarter century.

Comments

Won't buy a laptop without a trackpoint

[jfdavis668]

I am a Thinkpad junkie. My personal laptop is a Thinkpad, and I use the trackpoint exclusively. I have the trackpad turned off. Annoys anyone else who tries to use it.

Re:Won't buy a laptop without a trackpoint

[Ed Avis]

The trackpoint is cool -- did you know you can get it on desktop keyboards too? Could I shamelessly plug this ebay auction for an IBM Model M4-1 keyboard: http://www.ebay.com/itm/253185...

(It's a charity auction, I do not make any money from the sale, so I hope this avoids the accusation of spamming.)

The M4-1 is also part of the "Model M" family, although it does not use buckling springs.

Re:Won't buy a laptop without a trackpoint

[Aighearach]

I bought my first thinkpad in the late 90s. I bought my most recent one this year.

I got it with a touch screen so that my wife can use it when we travel. lol (so that I can leave the touchpad turned off; it annoys me)

I'm not really a fanboy though; I did shop around and look at the other laptops with a trackpoint equivalent. The thing is, nobody else wants to make one that is standards based so I can choose my own OS, looks like a boring business laptop, has a durable case, and is user serviceable. The touchscreen I wouldn't have minded going without.

The fingerprint scanner is a disappointment, but that's the only one.

The reason it is still awesome is because Lenovo understands the value. It isn't often a company buys a brand from another company, and also sees its value. Usually when that happens they have some sort of scheme to increase the value that destroys it completely. So props to Lenovo for acting like they're just Jr engineers updating the models and not changing the past decisions about it. It isn't IBM anymore, but it retains many of the product design qualities even today.

Story Denied: Please Refile Under "Lenovo"

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I see the big "IBM" logo on the story, but (at TFA notes) this has been Lenovo's baby for about half of those 25 years.

Neat laptop? Meh. I still have one and it still works. (It's a durable prop for small-audience "retro computing" talks.)

Did it keep up with the times? Well, like most of IBM, that's a big fat "no". And does anyone care? Prolly not.

Classics never go out of style

[ErichTheRed]

The ThinkPad is still my favorite laptop brand, even with the changes Lenovo has done to it in the past. I liked them even when they were ridiculously expensive IBM machines and I couldn't get employers to buy them for me. Yes, it's boxy and boring compared to a MacBook Pro or other consumer laptops, but having that extra build quality helps when you're travelling. Lenovo did cheapen it a little bit in the name of margin, but it's not nearly as flimsy as other laptops in its class. When they were IBM laptops, you really got what you paid for in terms of rugged design (along with all the extra weight that entailed.)

The eternal problem with a classic design is knowing when to modernize it, what people like about it and what should/shouldn't change. A few years ago, they moved to a more industry-standard keyboard layout and people lost their minds. Getting rid of the older IBM keyboard turned a lot of people off, but I adjusted. What I hated was when they got rid of the physical trackpoint buttons in favor of this huge clickable trackpad button. That took only one generation for Lenovo to say "oops" and put them back...you had people swearing they would never give Lenovo another cent if they didn't address it.

Product designers should take note of the ThinkPad. Instead of trying to cater to hipsters at the expense of everyone else, there should at least be some consultation when deciding what features to add or drop. Some people don't care that their machine weighs and extra pound if it means that someone sitting on it won't totally destroy it. Lenovo makes a lot of money off ThinkPad customers compared to their incredibly low margin consumer models, so I'm sure that's the only reason they keep the classic design...but I know I'll be buying them until they're no longer useful for me.

Re:Classics never go out of style

[Mal-2]

The Thinkpad remains a viable option when you don't quite need a Toughbook, but need something that can handle being lugged to random places daily and used on top of all manner of surfaces. Someone like an insurance adjuster, who does all of their real work at remote locations, is a good example of the Thinkpad demographic.

  They're rugged, but not absurdly ruggedized like a pickup truck. If you need it to survive being handled like a briefcase, get a Toughbook.
  The clitmouse is better than a trackpad for most things, especially when there is also a lot of typing involved. There is a learning curve, but it's worth it, and Thinkpads really do have the best Trackpoints. They suck for a few specific cases, like trying to draw, but that's when you would switch to the trackpad or a cordless mouse.
  I really liked the old keyboard layout, non-standard as it was, and I'm sorry to see it changed. To me, that was part of the Thinkpad identity.

Everything else about them had good and bad points along the way. There were fast ones and slow, ones with nice IPS panels and some crap panels too (presumably to get the bargain segment -- not sure it worked out), and resolution anywhere from rather nice for the time to bare minimum acceptable.

If anyone is trying to figure out the "essence of the Thinkpad", there's my take on it.

Old Thinkpads

[Bing Tsher E]

I am still looking forward to taking possession of my fathers old IBM Thinkpad. He passed away early this year and his Thinkpad is still on his desk, I suspect. I am four states away so I will need to wait until Christmas to get it. It's one of the Pentium 1 generation, which I don't know if that makes it first generation or not. He bought it with the IBM Employees Discount, though. I have had the fear for some months now that my mother will listen to some 'security moron' and have the hard drive on it wiped before I can take possession of it. Dad did use it for all his financial records, as he prefered Lotus. He was old IBM, when he first started working at Big Blue he programmed the IBM 650. He's never needed more than that Thinkpad for home computing; my mom is the one who always gets the new machine.

I'm solidly in the Apple ecosystem,

[jpellino]

but these puppies are my go to wintel machines. You can pound nails with them, they keep up with features, and hit a sweet spot.

And they are repairable!

[Anonymous Coward]

I have bought several for myself and family. The one feature that keeps me a customer is that the things are repairable! Unlike any other laptop I have owned, these things can be taken apart and serviced with minimal issues. And the service documentation is superb. I have replaced power connectors, hinges, cooling fans and keyboards in addition to the usual memory and hard drive changes. Glad Lenovo hasn't changed that!

Re:And they are repairable!

[Major_Disorder]

always a ton of parts and off lease laptops on ebay

Just recently bought a T420 with 16GB RAM, i7 processor, and a 250GB SSD from ebay. Got it for about what I would expect to pay for a new crap consumer grade laptop with lower specs. But this thing is fantastic. I put Linux (Mint 17.3 Cinnamon) on it, everything works with no issues, and it just flies for my workloads.

Re: Those were the days...

[rickb928]

You could try

del c:\command.com /F

or

del c:\command.com /A:HS

Add /S for more fun, though having 2 command.com files is indeed a old trick for those who got derfed regularly - finding the right command.com can be more trouble than worth, and hiding one is a nuisance.

There are more devious ways to munge the command executable...