#701c

[commodorez]

IBM Thinkpad 701CS - the one with the famous butterfly keyboard - VCF Southwest 2023

[thinkpad-thursday]

ThinkPad 701c

[digitalesleben]

Tag 21: IBM ThinkPad - die beste Tastatur der Welt?

Was ist eurer Meinung nach die beste Laptop-Tastatur der Welt? Ich bin der Meinung, dass das ThinkPad diesen Titel erhalten kann. Egal, ob von IBM oder Lenovo. Diese Tastaturen sind die besten.

Der einundzwanzigste Beitrag in meiner Reihe von Beiträgen zur Neugestaltung der Ausstellung in meinem Computermuseum. Heute und an weiteren 12 Tagen stelle ich die Zusammenstellung meiner Ausstellungsstücke vor. Welche Laptop-Tastatur ist wohl die beste Tastatur der Welt? Meiner Meinung nach ist es die von IBMs ThinkPad-Reihe. Und viele andere zufriedene Nutzer würden dem Urteil auch zustimmen.…

[natsumipocket]

Sony Walkman WM-701C • cassette player (1988)

[smorbee]

iBook Pyramid Behind the scenes!

This is a long one. Also keep in mind we made this a year ago so were going completely off of memory at this point BUT we do have the files. Unfortunately we didn't save specific versions of it really early into its creation so all the blender files close to being finished.

We have an intense appreciation for funky old computers. People correctly identified inspiration from the Thinkpad 701C. Less obvious in the final design but something that almost certainly influenced us as well was the 12-inch powerbook g4.

There is something very satisfying about nearly-square shaped laptops.

Others mentioned the JVC 3100R pyramid TV which, you'll be surprised to learn, we had never actually seen until after working on this project. The resemblance is uncanny and yet, entirely coincidental. Honestly if we had seen this thing, it probably would have had an effect on our design because the way that hinge is set up is beautiful. Our thought process was simply just comically emulating the form factor of a modern laptop but with a giant CRT.

We're pretty sure the idea started out as simply wanting to design a full profile keyboard into a macbook-like laptop because funny, and at some point the butterfly keyboard came to mind and we said Screw it and implemented that into it as well. Heres the keyboard separated into the different sections.

Sorry to say that the keyboard does not actually contain any switches. (You'll see that this computer was modeled to be viewed a limited angle)

Heres the keyboard from the top.

Once we got going with it, the whole thing was turned into a big joke of course, clashing many different eras of technology into one. Such as this massive beige tank of a "laptop" having a single USB C port as its main I/O.

And same with the software. This is the texture for the display, Which was taken from our real (unfortunately not crt based) macbook setup at the time. Except not quite, as the original screenshot was 16:10. We simply edited the image to make it 4:3. This is running mac os 12 with a majority of the icons changed to early osx equivalents.

We'll be real and admit the animation is not very intricate, theres no real "rig" for the model, parts are just parented together because we did all this in about 2 days. That said, we had loads of fun animating it still, trying to imitate the motion of someone struggling to lift the heavy top up before it swings open with an inaudible, but easily imaginable "Thud". Making the whole body shake and the trackball jump slightly was the finishing touch to make it complete.

The wire for the trackball was made using a circle with the screw modifier and then applied to a curve. Here's what it looks like with each modifier applied sequentially.

And then making the trackball itself a handle for the curve, we can have the cable be dynamic. (Yes, we notice that the trackball in fact has no mouse buttons. No good explanation for that, I think we just forgot lmao.)

For the screen, we make use of a location transform on the UV mapping for the satisfying detail of the screen distorting from the impact, which we swear we've seen before but no matter how hard we (safely) bumped our CRT monitor we weren't able to recreate it. Nonetheless even if its not entirely realistic we wouldn't remove it for anything.

speaking of which, an utterly useless detail considering the resolution and distortion of the final renders and yet we added anyways just for our own amusement is that the display has a shadowmask, simply done by just multiplying it over the base screen texture.

Combined with a glass material over the inner part of the screen, it utterly destroys low sample count renders of the screen and makes the project at least 3x as prone to crashing so thats cool! (it crashed on us while we were writing this section)

We've learned since in future projects that trying to optimize polygon count and materials is still very important even for offline rendered content. We can never be truly free from the constraints of memory limitations 😔

the final step was getting a more authentic less "polished" look in the compositing. This step can get very complicated based on the specific look were going for, but for this render its really just basic color correction and some blurring and sharpening steps. We used the default fake jitter node in blender at the time, though in more recent stuff we use the non-denoised image with filters applied to it instead, so its less uniform between images and more uniquely degraded looking.

Though we'd do a number of things differently now were still pleased with the final result. especially in animated form.

Heres an overview of the scene:

This is the bezeled apple logo in polygon form. Its simply an alpha texture with a normal map:

Thats all for now! Thank you for reading!

[megacorp-one]

Sony Walkman 701C (1988)

[techtimechronicles24]

🇺🇲 Explore the fascinating journey of the iconic ThinkPad! Originally introduced by IBM in 1992, the ThinkPad quickly became synonymous with innovation, reliability, and cutting-edge technology.

💼 Designed for professionals on the go, the ThinkPad's signature black design, red TrackPoint, and durable build set it apart from the competition. ThinkPad was initially developed by a team led by Arimasa Naitoh, who drew inspiration from the traditional Japanese bento box for its design.

💻 Over the years, the ThinkPad underwent several transformations, adapting to the ever-changing landscape of technology. From the classic clamshell design to convertible tablets and ultrabooks, each iteration pushed the boundaries of what a laptop could achieve. The butterfly keyboard introduced on the ThinkPad 701C in 1995 was named one of the "25 Greatest PCs of All Time" by PC World.

🚀 Since the early 2000s, ThinkPads have been a trusted companion for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). ThinkPads have been instrumental in assisting astronauts with various tasks onboard the ISS, including data analysis, communication with mission control, and conducting scientific experiments.

💾 Despite changing hands from IBM to Lenovo in 2005, the ThinkPad's commitment to quality and innovation remained unwavering. Under Lenovo's stewardship, it continued to thrive, evolving with the times while staying true to its heritage.The iconic red TrackPoint remains a staple feature across generations, beloved by users for its precision and ease of use.

🌟 Today, the ThinkPad remains a symbol of excellence in the world of computing, beloved by professionals and enthusiasts alike for its reliability, performance, and timeless design. From business executives to tech enthusiasts, it became the go-to choice for anyone seeking performance and versatility.

[mitchipedia]

Updating the 1995 IBM “butterfly” ThinkPad, which had a fold-out keyboard

The IBM ThinkPad 701c was a mini-notebook with a full-size keyboard that extended to either side of the laptop body when the display was open. When you closed the lid, the keyboard collapsed inside the body of the computer.

The 701c had a 486 processor. If I recall correctly, that was slow even when the computer came out, in the mid-90s. Now, hacker Karl Buchka is working on updating the machine with modern components, including the motherboard of a modular Framework laptop.

Liam Proven at The Register:

The ThinkPad "Butterfly" was famous for its form factor. It squeezed a full-width, full-travel keyboard into a iPad-sized chassis (or, to be fair, into a chassis the size of a stack of four original iPads). The keyboard split in half via a zigzag line down the middle. When the owner closed the lid, a cam on the left screen hinge slid the halves of the keyboard apart and around, rearranging them to fit neatly inside. When you opened it, the cam did the reverse: the keyboard slid out and rearranged itself to full size, overhanging to the left and right. It was a mechanical marvel that sparked joy in the beholder, and while the survivors' 28-year-old batteries will have failed, the keyboard still works fine.

[hackernewsrobot]

Restoration of an IBM 701C Butterfly-keyboard laptop

https://blog.jgc.org/2023/12/restoration-of-ibm-thinkpad-701c.html

[roadrunnerposting]

I joke about wifestres battery but apparently the battery in the 701c swells so badly that you have to disassemble the case to get it out after a few years

[astroprog]

I am sorry, I am already promised to another

[zegalba]

Sony: WM-701C Walkman Cassette Player (1988)

[now-prisjuju]

“They saw, in the keyboard, the opening and closing wings of military aircraft, an image that Top Gun, which came out nine years before the computer, had fixed in the minds of everyone. “

Sam Lucente, Richard Sapper, Robert P. Tennant, and IBM Corp.

[krjpalmer]

PC Magazine March 14, 1995

on Google Books

[utopia-kyuen]

my technology is screaming and dripping blood. 

like damn ok you’re not special i can do that too.

[enriquemzn262]

The butterfly keyboard of the IBM ThinkPad 701C.

Source.