Chuck Desktops But Save The Thinkpad!

So it seems IBM may finally spinning out its PC business, a long time drag on its financials. Fair enough from a financial perspective. Frankly who cares about PC hardware anyway, except maybe Alienware?

IBM could potentially offload the business to start again with an approach built around its Workplace On Demand software – perhaps even with POWER-based clients. Other form factors anyone? It makes little economic sense for IBM to hand over so much dosh to Intel – a really disruptive move would be to drive the creation of a POWER-based Linux PC. IBM needs to drive even more volume to power, problems supplying Apple notwithstanding. Its not clear that IBM is thinking this adventurously though. One very senior ranking exectutive in IBM’s Systems and Technology Group told me to “watch this space” when i pushed him on a the issue about six months ago. But perhaps we are seeing the first green shoots of a new Linux-based reference architecture for the client. If anyone can build a low cost chip based on POWER its Chartered.. Someone is going to make a lot of money selling low cost computers in China and India, and it might even be that IBM needs to disentangle itself from Wintel in order to make a focused play in this regard, becoming an arms supplier rather than a systems builder. Enough hypothesizing though.

What i really wanted to say is KEEP THE THINKPAD!!! it is the best laptop money can buy (don’t shoot me please Powerbook users) even if Thinkpad prices are way high. The premium is worth it – IBM only uses the best components in this absolute classic of industrial design. As i understand it IBM makes money on these boxes and the cache – the value to the IBM brand is significant. Every time i see a Dell laptop user i get a sense of satisfaction or is it superiority. Go to an industry analyst event and everyone is running a Thinkpad. I once knocked a whole glass of soda water into the keyboard–there was a very scary phut. but after a night on the radiator it worked like a charm – thank you membrane between keys and motherboard.

Even if IBM were losing money on the Thinkpad it would still be worth retaining as a marquee brand in my view. And i still wish i bought a butterfly when they were available. Another stone cold classic like i say.

Nice story here that sums up some of the design value of the product. Richard Sapper is the man. Here is an excerpt:

Industrial designer Richard Sapper designed ThinkPad’s thin black case, accented only by the red, green and blue IBM logo in the corner. Beveled edges give the illusion the notebooks are smaller and thinner than their actual size. Many companies, which have experimented with rounded cases and colors to make laptops look like toilet seats, have turned to the ThinkPad’s sleek, linear design, analysts said.

“We do not regard design as a way for selling more stuff,” Sapper said. “We regard the design as being the business card of IBM. The very essence of IBM are its products. The services part you can’t see.”

I am pretty sure there will be geek uproar if IBM decides to allow Thinkpad to slip out of its grasp. This was my small contribution. To appropriate Sappers’ words – The Thinkpad is the business card of IBM… and long may it continue.