https://www.forbes.com/sites/timbajarin/2022/10/05/celebrating-thinkpads-30th-anniversaryan-insiders-perspective/ Subscribe Sign In BETA This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here More From Forbes Oct 8, 2022,07:11am EDT New Problems Reported By iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro Buyers Oct 8, 2022,07:10am EDT Apple Leaks Reveal Massive iPhone Cost Increases Oct 8, 2022,06:00am EDT Is It Worth Spending More Money On An HDMI Cable? Oct 7, 2022,10:37pm EDT Apple Watch Ultra IRL: Should You Buy One? Oct 7, 2022,03:49pm EDT Apple Loop: Disappointing iPhone 15 Leak, Goodbye To The Lightning Port, More iPhone 14 Pro Problems Oct 7, 2022,03:37pm EDT Android Circuit: Pixel 7 Pro Excitement, OnePlus' Trees, Xiaomi 12T Pro Reviews Oct 7, 2022,11:00am EDT Need To Focus? Follow These Four Simple Steps For Better Concentration Oct 7, 2022,06:00am EDT The Spherical OEPLAY Music Star 5 Bluetooth Speaker Could Be A Design Classic Edit Story Consumer Tech Celebrating ThinkPad's 30th Anniversary - An Insider's Perspective Tim Bajarin Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about tech industry's impact on the PC and CE markets. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 5, 2022,09:00am EDT| New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! * Share to Facebook * Share to Twitter * Share to Linkedin Thirty years of design and innovation highlight's Lenovo's ThinkPad getty Not long after I joined Creative Strategies in 1981, I received a call from IBM looking for forecasts on the PC market. At that time, the PC market was in its infancy, and it was anyone's guess then as to its future growth. However, they had seen a quote I made to a major tech publication stating that I thought PCs could be a significant growth market and be transformational for the business market. I based that theory on my familiarity with the first spreadsheet product on the Apple II called VisiCalc. I saw how large companies bought Apple IIs and VisiCalc for their accounting departments. (Full disclosure- my wife worked for VisiCorp, the company that made VisiCalc; thus, my familiarity with the product was firsthand.) That led to a set of research assignments from IBM, and for many years I worked with them on various projects related to the growth of the PC market at the product and channel level. One of the most interesting programs I was asked to help with was the design of their original laptop in late 1985. At that time, IBM only made large PCs with separate monitors, mostly in battleship grey. Earlier that year, at CEBIT, a major technology show in Hannover, Germany, Toshiba introduced what became the first actual commercial clamshell laptop design called the T100. I was at that CEBIT show and the launch of the T100, and I asked to "borrow" it to help me cover the show. Of course, Toshiba denied this request, although they did get me one to test once I was back in the U.S. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR Best Travel Insurance Companies By Amy Danise Editor Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans By Amy Danise Editor IBM was deeply interested in the Toshiba T100 design, and the IBM design group in Austin, TX asked me to consult on the project. So for about a year, I would go between Austin and Atlanta, where part of IBM's technical design was developed, and Boca Raton, where the marketing strategy was developed. This led to IBM introducing the 5140 in 1986. IBM's "luggable" pc, the 5140 IBM This first product was still in the luggable category of personal computers, but soon after it was released, IBM launched its first series of clamshell-based laptops. IBM's first clamshell IBM PS/2 L40 SX - IBM's first "clamshell" IBM was the IBM PS/2 Model L40 SX. Most of IBM's earliest models had only minor success until 1992, when IBM introduced its first line of ThinkPad models. In 1988, the father of the ThinkPad, Arimasa Naitoh, a Lenovo Fellow located in Japan, received a call about the need to spearhead a new portable computing venture in IBM's research center in Yokohama, Japan. At the time, he was based in White Plains, NY but moved back to Japan to develop what has become the iconic ThinkPad line of portable computers. I got to watch the development of the ThinkPad from the beginning. Mr Naitoh's leadership, assisted by David Hill, who was instrumental in creating the unique ThinkPad design, made IBM at that time one of the most important portable computer companies in the market. This chart shows the design history of the Thinkpad and why it is still a big part of Lenovo's success in portable computing: A visual history of ThinkPad's design Lenovo Under IBM's leadership, the ThinkPad became one of the best-selling laptops in the enterprise. Still, from its introduction to when Lenovo bought IBM's PC business in 2005, they had only sold 25 million ThinkPads. However, the ThinkPad's growth under Lenovo's leadership has been remarkable. Today, Lenovo has sold over 200 million ThinkPads, and the company continues to innovate around the ThinkPad design to improve it. Although many key players inside Lenovo had a significant impact on ThinkPad's growth, its most considerable thrust and success came under the leadership of Dilip Bhatia, Vice President of Global Marketing, User and Customer Experience, and former Vice President and General Manager of ThinkPad. A great example of their innovative design and thinking comes with their new line of foldable ThinkPads called the ThinkPad X1 Fold. Although foldable technology is still in its infancy, Lenovo's willingness to blaze new trails with new and innovative designs has been the trademark of Lenovo's design teams since they first introduced the line of ThinkPads in 1992. Watching the overall growth of the mobile computing market, especially the birth and evolution of the ThinkPad, has given me a deeper appreciation for the men and women who worked so hard to make portable computing the largest PC market today. And the Lenovo team has played a major role in helping the mobile computing industry grow exponentially over that last few decades. For those interested in the history of the ThinkPad, I recommend Mr. Naitoh's book on the subject- How the ThinkPad Changed the World and Is Shaping the Future." Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website. Tim Bajarin Tim Bajarin * Editorial Standards * Print * Reprints & Permissions [ ]