On October 5, 1992, IBM released its first three Thinkpad models. IBM had portable computers before, starting with its luggable Portable PC from 1984 and PC Convertible from 1986. But none of them had the lasting success of the Thinkpad, which IBM designed to compete head to head with Compaq’s LTE, Apple’s Powerbook, and Toshiba’s Dynabook.
How IBM’s Thinkpad took inspiration from the past
For decades, IBM distributed small notepads with the word “THINK” emblazoned on their cover to customers and employees. IBM employee Denny Wainwright had one such notepad in his pocket when he suggested “Thinkpad” as the name of the new notebook computer. The IBM corporate naming committee opposed it, as all the names for IBM computers were numeric at that time, but IBM kept the name because journalists and the public liked it.
IBM announced the new line in April 1992, starting with the 300, 700, and 700C. One of its first customers was Harvard Business School, who awarded IBM a contract to provide notebook PCs for its campus.
To demonstrate their ruggedness and durability, IBM lent Thinkpads to archaeologists excavating the ancient Egyptian city of Leontopolis. They reported the unit required no special care under the harsh conditions. In all the first generation of Thinkpads collected more than 300 awards for design and quality.
Writing in 2012, David Pierce stated in The Verge that the Thinkpad reinvigorated both IBM and the portable computing industry. The 700C in particular wowed the 1992 Comdex crowd, weighing 5.7 pounds while sporting a 10.4-inch color screen, a removable hard drive, the innovative trackpad pointing device, up to 16 MB of RAM, and an IBM 486SLC2 processor running at up to 50 MHz. At $4,350 it wasn’t cheap, but Compaq’s LTE series topped out at a 20 MHz 386SX procesor.
Its all-black styling caught executives’ attention, with CEOs asking for them by name.
IBM continued the success, releasing the 755CD, the first laptop with a built in CD-ROM drive in 1994, and the legendary butterfly 701c in 1995.
How the Thinkpad became iconic
The Thinkpad’s design was adaptable. Although more than 3 decades have passed, a contemporary Thinkpad feels familiar next to a 700C from 1992. It’s still black with red highlights, the keys still have a curved shape to fit your fingers comfortably, the trackpad is in the same place, and the texture of the case is still similar. Even as the internals change radically, the visible and especially the tactile elements remain familiar.
The consistency has made it iconic, and made the Thinkpad the only remaining line of PC not completely commodified. Laptops are about as distinguishable from each other as washing machines, so you may not even know what brand laptop or washing machine you have. But if you have a Thinkpad, you know it. A Thinkpad can’t get an Apple price, but people don’t mind paying extra for a Thinkpad over a similarly equipped HP or Dell.
Lenovo bought IBM’s PC division in 2005, including the Thinkpad. Lenovo has been making Thinkpads longer than IBM did. Even though the company making them is different now, and the manufacturer’s logo is different, you can still see the commonality between an old one and a new one.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.