First ThinkPad tablet was almost 20 years ago - check it out!

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

Wow - this really takes me back to when I started with the company.   Howard Dulany does a great job sharing a bit of history on the first ThinkPad tablet.

• Made of Magnesium
• Used solid state storage
• Was a slate format

Surprised?   Talk about technology ahead of it's time....!

[ajkula66 Guru]

A facinating piece of technology, as were many subsequent ThinkPads...

What is even more fascinating in certain respects that one can still find these in working condition every now and again...

[erik Community SuperMod]

just about every early ThinkPad model was years ahead of its time.   the notebook market may not have been the same without IBM's innovations.

i played with a 730T way back in the day but didn't find it all that useful at the time.   today my opinion would be the complete opposite.   there's no way i could do my job as well without a tablet interface.

[draco2527]

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erik wrote:

just about every early ThinkPad model was years ahead of its time.   the notebook market may not have been the same without IBM's innovations.

i played with a 730T way back in the day but didn't find it all that useful at the time.   today my opinion would be the complete opposite.   there's no way i could do my job as well without a tablet interface.

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I think the hardware AND software needed to mature...the software (IMHO) seemed to conform to the capabilities of the hardware.

Today the hardware capabilities (processor speeds, amount of memory available, HDD sizes) have matured to the point were software capabilites have exploded. NOW we have a perfect blend of hardware being able to keep up with the high demands of software...

My first "slate" was an Apple Newton (yes...I will admit I have owned an apple product), and considering all the bad press it got, it worked well for me...however it was one expensive piece of equipment!

In short:

Software was limited to hardware capabilities.

[milstein]

I'm thinking of the concept Microsoft Courier...

Amen...

[GMAC-R60 Retired Guru]

no not Surprised I remember the tv ads and I still have everyone of my thinkpads and they are all still working I can't write worth a **bleep** so I couldn't see buying a tablet

[orion9727]

hmm i think back then hardware and software ran neck and neck.
today hardware is really light years ahead of software.
the main reason is the old x86 way of thinking.
the new tablets based on mobile platform well there much different.
the code today is kinda like a onion.
layers on layers that is really 286 with 386 piled on x64 that really mixed mess.
i think the new tablets built around the phone chips change that and that what we really need in the pc world of today.
a complete break from the past.
windows needs to break free of the old code and embrace a new era.
back them cpu speed would double every 18 months and moores law made for very fast changes in pc.
today cpu makers have hit a brick wall with cpu speed and in some ways that is good and some ways bad.
cpu speed would give a huge boost to software before but today the software must make use of new instructions.
IBM made alot of really nice products that came and went rather fast and some great laptops that were far ahead of it time.
the world of today is more about media i think but when you really think of it that was what made windows and OS2 .