Lenovo is considering a retro revival of the
ThinkPad, with a notebook using a similar design to the original ThinkPads created by Richard Sapper for IBM. Design vice president David Hull has proposed on the
Lenovo blog the creation of a "very unique ThinkPad model" that takes its design cues from a notebook created in 1992, but bringing it up to date with modern internal components and slight tweaks to the external design to accommodate today's customers.
In a post talking about a computing heritage spanning 23 years, Hull suggests a comeback of the design could be welcomed by users. "Although not for everyone, I'm certain there's a group of people who would stand in line to purchase such a special ThinkPad model." Hull goes on to suggest that, while the reuse of a classic design has worked for the motor industry, such as the Mini Cooper and the Ford Mustang, "why not ThinkPad?"
Hull muses that the retro ThinkPad could use a seven-row classic keyboard with a blue enter key, dedicated volume controls, with a 16:10 aspect ratio display above it that can also lie flat on a surface. The ThinkPad logo would be multi-colored, and while it would have "lots of status LEDs," it would also have rubberized paint. While the design would be mostly in the past, there would still be some modern influences at play, such as using two "ThinkLights" to illuminate the keyboard, and shrinking the thickness from the original's 56mm to just 18mm.
The blog post isn't a declaration that Lenovo would definitely make the retro ThinkPad, but more a way for Lenovo to see if there is enough of a potential customer base to develop it into a full product. "I'd like to test the resilience of building a historically inspired ThinkPad with potential customers, and also get overall design feedback as we plan the next generation of ThinkPad offerings." Hull warns that to create the notebook, it "would require significant sales volumes to justify the development effort and tooling expense. I can't promise anything at this point, it's an idea."
Top