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The ThinkPad at 15

Lenovo proudly informs us that the ThinkPad is now 15 years old, and is partying tonight in Soho to celebrate the fact. Unfortunately I can't be there, but the anniversary reminder does bring back a few memories...
Written by Charles McLellan, Senior Editor

Lenovo proudly informs us that the ThinkPad is now 15 years old, and is partying tonight in Soho to celebrate the fact. Unfortunately I can't be there, but the anniversary reminder does bring back a few memories...

Back in July 1992, I was working as Production Editor for Ziff-Davis's newly-launched UK edition of PC Magazine, and didn't have time to draw breath, let alone notice that IBM had launched the somewhat eccentric IBM 2521 ThinkPad, which was a pen-based device running GO Corporation's PenPoint operating system.

Later that year came what we would recognise as the first 'proper' ThinkPads — The 700 and 700C models, running Windows 3.1 and including such enduring features as the black livery (based on a lacquered Japanese lunchbox apparently), a superb keyboard and a red pointing stick nestling between the G, H and B keys.

What's remarkable is how broadly similar one of Lenovo's current ThinkPads is to IBM's decade-and-a-half-old systems: obviously the technology inside has changed, but the basic tenets of straightforward and robust design, excellent keyboard and well-judged extra touches — the light at the top of the screen that illuminates the keyboard in murky conditions springs to mind — have kept the brand near the top of mobile professionals' wish-lists for years.

That's not to say there have haven't been a few odd excursions along the way. Neither the expanding 'butterfly' keyboard on the 1995 701 series (a great piece of industrial design) nor 2001's TransNote — a combination of tablet-style computer and conventional paper — stood the test of time; the same goes for the 755CDV with its removable LCD projection panel that could be used with an overhead projector. There was a wearable ThinkPad too, somewhere along the line.

Still, there's nothing wrong with a bit of eccentricity so long as the heart's in the right place, so happy 15th birthday ThinkPad.

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