ThinkPad

ThinkPad is the brand name for a highly successful range of portable computers (laptop / notebook computers) manufactured and marketed by IBM. Traditionally black in color, they feature innovations such as the TrackPoint pointing device, some of the best keyboards seen on portables (including the fold-out butterfly keyboard on the 701 models) and have a reputation for being solidly built and dependable. Their speciality is their mouse, which is a tap between the keys.

The ThinkPad name was inspired by the leather-bound pocket notebooks issued to all IBM employees with the corporate motto 'Think' embossed on the cover. IBM's corporate naming team was initially against using the name since all IBM computers (till then) were referred to by model numbers rather than names, but subsequently came around recognizing its popularity in the press. Design work on the first ThinkPads was done at IBM's Yamato design center in Japan. The clean black lines of the ThinkPad were apparently inspired by shoukadou bentou, a traditional black-lacquered Japanese lunch box.

IBM launched the ThinkPad line in 1992 with the ThinkPad 700. The first ThinkPad 700 sold for US$4,350, weighed 6.5 pounds, and was a 2.2" x 11.7" x 8.3" notebook. Its screen was 10.4 inches, the largest at that time, it had a 386SX 25 MHz processor, and a 120 MB hard disk drive with an easy-to-use keyboard with a distinguishing TrackPoint pointing device. The ThinkPad 700's bright red pointing stick, embedded in the keyboard, enabled the notebook to be used on an airline tray table without a mouse.

ThinkPad letters:

Thinkpad A: All in One Notebooks, heavy, large, all drives internal
Thinkpad T: Slimline Notebook, one drive internal, less heavy, smaller
Thinkpad X: Subnotebook, very small and light, no drive internal, small screen
Thinkpad R: budget notebook AFAIK between A and T
Thinkpad G: Desktop replacements

External links

Typical IBM ThinkPad:

"Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation. Unauthorized use not permitted."

Shoukadou bentou:

(The Japanese lunchbox that inspired the ThinkPad design)