I would like to tell you about the two incidents that are the reason I continue to use ThinkPad today.

The first incident occurred to me 11 years ago when I was in university.
The first notebook computer that I ever had was a ThinkPad iSeries and I loved and cherished it like it was my own child.
One time I was on the way to the hospital where I was in training and I got off the train at JR Kannai station. I went through the ticket gate and began to descend the long staircase. It was just as I began to descend that I heard a "popping" noise as the bottom of my bag suddenly ripped open! (It was a pretty cheap bag.) All of the things that I had in my bag, including my beloved ThinkPad, dropped out and went cascading down from the top to the very bottom of the stairs!

The ThinkPad, in particular, went bouncing down the stairs with a lot of momentum because of its weight. I turned white with fear and didn't even look at my other things as I went racing after my ThinkPad. Still, I knew in my heart that it was a lost cause and when I got there I was expecting to never be able to use my ThinkPad again.

I sat down on the station bench and even though I had half given up on it, I turned on the power. I was amazed as I heard the "Pibo" sound of ThinkPad booting up as if nothing had ever happened. I went on to check the hardware and software but it kept working without any visible problems. I have never appreciated the toughness of the ThinkPad more than I did that day.

There wasn't any serious damage to that machine and she is still being used for word processing, simple spread sheets or when my wife accesses the internet.

The second incident happened just recently when I participated in a conference in San Francisco, USA.
After the conference was over, I left the convention center where the conference had been held and headed for the hotel. On my way home I had my ThinkPad X200 tucked under my arm when I was hurrying across an intersection.
Just as I was crossing the street, I came across a wire ring about 30 cm in diameter. I didn't notice the ring until my foot got caught in it and I found myself going head over heels.
I had so much momentum that the ThinkPad I was carrying flew about 5 meters before crashed violently onto the ground.

I was surrounded by businessmen. Even as they helped me up, and brought my ThinkPad that I had thrown back to me, everybody was saying "you should see if it still works."
I was certain that "there was no chance this time," but when I turned on the power it was once again just as though nothing had happened. The people around me broke into applause at my relief. Even the American businessmen were saying "the ThinkPad sure is tough." This time the impact was really severe and there was a crack in the bottom of the case. I had the case replaced, but the storage media, display and terminals were not damaged at all. My ThinkPad continued as my number one partner and is still alive and well today.

I was originally attracted to the ThinkPad because I thought it was "totally black, simple and masculine" and "it doesn't include a bunch of software I don't need." (So many computers sold in Japan are filled with software that you'll never use...) And of course because it's "easy to use." But after these two incidents the ThinkPad earned a special place in my heart as "the computer that can be dropped or thrown, but nothing will ever dent it." I still never feel any desire to own a notebook computer other than the ThinkPad.

For I and others like me, the loss or leaking of the information inside our computer could actually have fatal consequences because of the work we do. That makes it hard to find anything that would replace the toughness of the ThinkPad. I think that this is one of the good points about the ThinkPad that everybody should have a chance to experience for themselves. (Of course it's probably better if these kind of things don't happen to them. LOL)

It happened in early January on a morning when the temperature had really dropped. As I always do, I got on my bicycle and left my house to go to work.

I put my ThinkPad X200s into my bag so that I can work in mobile environment. My bag isn't designed for carrying laptop computers so it isn't cushioned so much.

It was raining that day but I wasn't concerned about it since the rain was not hard. But when I take a back road, I slipped on ice-covered road...

Fortunately I had learned JUDO at an early age and I knew how I can absorb impact.

Oh? It should be "Start the roll from left shoulder then absorb the impact with left side"...? Anyway(^^;)

Only my mistake was that somehow I slung my bag over my shoulder though usually I put it in bicycle basket.

Well, people mostly sling messenger bag over their shoulder...

I forgot exact name of this technique to absorb the impact though, I dropped from right side and was going to use my right arm to absorb impact. Naturally messenger bag moved to my right side by gravity, then sandwiched between ground and my body. My ThinkPad X200s was in it...

I don't know why I slung my bag over my shoulder that day. At all events...

Two right side ribs fracture.

I went to hospital by myself and saw X-ray picture. I could see my ribs were broken clearly.

My new ThinkPad must be impacted so much because it dropped from my waist hight and also it was pressured by my body weight.

But ThinkPad worked as if nothing had happened.

Look closely, the rubber mark of the track point remained on the display (though you cannot find it in the above picture which I took right after the accident). I think you can imagine that ThinkPad got high impact because usually the trackpoint does not touch the display. I could wipe off the rubber mark easily and ThinkPad works fine until now.

Of course the software and data had no damage too. I guess SSD may also contributed to soften the damage.

This is the happening that I could make sure ThinkPad is really tough and reliable. It was the accident actually "I felt pain" :-P

Since then, of course I put my bag in bicycle basket and I am looking for new bag so that I can put my ThinkPad it with cushion cover.

Yes, ThinkPad is tough enough to protect owners from the accident!

Original Article (Japanese)

The IT wave reached my workplace. The ThinkPad was chosen because it was tough and it had a good reputation and the quality to back it up.
When I first came into contact with it I wondered if this was really such a great computer.
It seemed square and clunky and was without pretension. At that time the IBM logo was on the ThinkPad. Now the ThinkPad displays the Lenovo brand. I have now had two generations of ThinkPads.

When you get used to it, you can't help but wonder if you are touching this keyboard or if it's the keyboard that is actually touching you. When I am using the TrackPoint, I almost wonder if I'm actually controlling it because it's so effortless. My fingers move naturally as I create documents and my computer is a work tool, but it really doesn't feel like a tool at all. Instead of interrupting my thoughts it helps me contemplate and deepen them. I end up wondering if it was truly me that made this document. It's not just that the keyboard is smooth or that the trackpad doesn't get in the way of the "key touch." Those words just aren't enough to express it.

You feel something unique that surpasses that kind of praise when you walk away from the ThinkPad and you look at it across the room.
The ThinkPad keyboard is my fingers in the track pad is my tentacle. People say that a man can become one with his horse and I think that the ThinkPad is a computer that achieves that level of excellence.

Now, however, there are a variety of ways to connect to the Internet, such as "connecting to the office LAN," "connecting at a free spot" or "connecting at a business hotel." You have to change the way you connect, security settings and network settings for each method.

I think that right now there are notebook computers that can rival the ThinkPad in performance and toughness. From the perspective of someone buying a notebook, it's good that we have more choices and ThinkPad will continue to progress in order to resist pressure from rivals. As a fan, that makes me very happy.

I no longer feel that there is as big a gap as there once was in terms of hardware. However, I tried using a notebook computer from another company and I really felt that, with ThinkVantage first on the list, there remains a consistent difference in the utilities provided to make your computer easier to use.

In particular, I felt that there was a big difference in network management utilities as I mentioned earlier. Computers from other companies also have some kind of network management utility.

However, after you have used the ThinkPad utility and then you try to use one of the utilities from those other models you can really feel how good the ThinkPad utility is.

With the ThinkPad utility, of course you have to create some profiles beforehand, but you can create those settings just before using the connection and then choose the settings you want for each situation.

I don't know any other utilities that improve ease of use as much as the ThinkPad utility.

The advantage of the ThinkPad isn't just the toughness of the hardware or the advanced technology, but the amazingly well integrated utilities that make it easier to use.

It was over 10 years ago and the black box and red TrackPoint design remains unchanged even now. At that time it was something I yearned for that had already earned several "legends." It's well known for its incomparable toughness, simple and sturdy construction, professional use key touch and interfaces. As computers became commonplace, other manufacturers were selling computers that were bloated with a ridiculous number of preinstalled software that only slowed down Windows 95. It was as though they were telling us that "it's up to the user to determine how valuable this machine is."

I came to hear about the ThinkPad coming back alive from amazing situations with the data intact. I haven't had any problems with the computers that I have owned and over the more than 10 long years since I started using them, ThinkPad has proven able to "providing the functionality you expect, exactly as you expect it," which is surely the most difficult thing to do. ThinkPad is generous in how it has responded to OS, like Linux, and allowed customization like increasing HDD and memory. It was even in the variety of ThinkPads that I have owned so far that taught me how to enjoy computer.

Now, my primary companion is the ThinkPad T400. Compared to the 560E that I first owned, progress has been rapid as the CPU has gone from 166 MHz to 2.8 GHz, the memory from 96 MB to 4 GB and the HDD from 2 GB to 320 GB. The environment surrounding people and computers has also changed a great deal. You can connect to the Internet as much as you like and you can freely access the world without connecting through cables. The difficulty of setting things and the time required for maintenance has been greatly decreased in a variety of technologies, (particularly the ThinkPad).

Still, the black case and red TrackPoint and the expandability and serviceability that I have heard about from users remains the same as it was over 10 years ago. Even if the logo of the manufacturer has changed during that time, the people who are making the ThinkPad and the passion of those who buy them, and most of all our deep loyalty to this black case has not changed.

Just the other day I got a ThinkPad X100e. I felt that it was packed with ambitious new challenges. It is a model that is being greeted by both approval and disapproval, but I think that this only goes to prove how many passionate fans there are of this black case. However, as they pursue new concepts and targets, I imagine that many developers must have put a lot of sweat into this because I can see the effects of their efforts in various areas of this computer.

It was the moment that I opened the box and pulled out the new computer that I had ordered. Though I was overcome with excitement, I also felt an indescribable sense of relief as I saw the black form that I knew would be there. 　As a part of my fondness for computers I will continue to keep an eye on this beautiful black case. After sticking stubbornly to this style for so long, I think that ThinkPad truly has earned a right to be known as a globally accepted "Japanese born brand".