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Lenovo does not care about you.
IBM did not care about you.
Thinkpads do not exist for your benefit.
There are a lot of videos and blogs seeking to answer the question “why are ThinkPads so popular”
These discussions usually come down to three things
- Price – A used thinkpad from 5-10 years ago will out-perform a new laptop of the same price bracket
- Build Quality – The engineers that make Thinkpads are incredibly particular about making their machines as close to indestructible as possible.
- Repairability – Different eras of Thinkpads were better/worse about this, but generally even Lenovo’s new devices are very repairable, without the anti-repair design of things like apple devices.
If you’ve ever clicked on some random YouTube video about Thinkpads, you’d probably get the impression that the entire line of laptops hails from lost halcyon days when everything was better in the world, and that IBM and Lenovo are the most kind, gracious corporations in the universe, filled with unending love and care for you the computer-enthusiast end user.
This is an idiotic fantasy. I might even call it an outright lie. but why is it common? why is it the standard way people seem to talk about these things? Why do people think that framework is the “spiritual successor” to Thinkpads, when most of the laptops they worship were made less than ten years ago, by a company that still exists, and pumps out dozens of Thinkpad badged laptops every year?
Simply put, because they have not thought for one second about a Thinkpad in any other context than their home, let alone about the general functioning of computers in a business setting…
So let’s spend a bit talking about the general functioning of computers in a business setting, IBM and Lenovo’s business model, and the reason why people get this ridiculous fantasy about the reasons for the design philosophy in these laptops.
First, let’s ask a question: “How do Thinkpad Laptops make money for Lenovo/IBM?” (this question applies to both companies, and to machines made today, and in the past. Both because the business model hasn’t changed that much, and because IBM is still heavily tied up in Lenovo’s PC business). Generally, Thinkpads make money in two ways.
- A Thinkpad makes money when it is sold to a business customer (usually this occurs in laptop fleets of dozens/hundreds)
- Attached to the purchase of a fleet of thinkpads, Lenovo/IBM sell extensive (and expensive) hardware service contracts.
Second, let’s consider what happens when a laptop breaks in a typical business environment:
- the user of the laptop contacts their company IT department, who themselves make a service call to IBM/Lenovo
- A laptop technician either repairs or replaces the laptop, at IBM/Lenovo’s expense
- the user returns to their day-to-day use of the laptop.
Third, let’s consider what happens when the service contract on a fleet of laptops ends, and the company that purchased them upgrades to new hardware:
- new hardware is purchased
- old laptops are disposed of, and treated basically as garbage.
Now! with these three things in mind… I’d like to give you a tour of the “three things” that are great about Thinkpads.
Thinkpads are Repairable because every minute of a field technician’s labor costs money for IBM/Lenovo, and cuts into the profit made on a service contract, so a laptop that is easy to work in, is a laptop that takes less time to repair, and as a result costs less money to service. As well, laptops need to be repaired instead of replaced as often as possible, because replacing an entire laptop costs more to IBM/Lenovo than swapping a broken part with a working part.
Thinkpads are Durable for the exact same reason they’re repairable. Each time a laptop needs fixed, it costs money, and cuts into the profits IBM/Lenovo make on a service contract. If the laptops break less often, those laptops make more money for IBM.
finally, thinkpads are Cheap…
Thinkpads aren’t cheap laptops. I’m serious. Go to Lenovo’s website right now, and you won’t find an entry laptop, nothing under $500… so why is there a reputation for the “cheap Thinkpad?”
Thinkpads are “Cheap” because nobody who worships the things buys one new. The entire culture of hobbyists around Thinkpads is reliant on the fact that once a business laptop is replaced, the business that purchased it originally views it as literal garbage, and has zero interest in re-selling it. Lenovo never sold T480s at $20 a palette, but Joe Schmo Accounting LLC sure as hell will, because the old laptops are just e-waste to them.
Notice, that nowhere in this explanation did I say “used to”, “once were” or “back then”. Because this cycle is continuous. it is happening right now. New laptops are being designed with easy-service in mind, current laptops are being sold with lengthy service contracts, and old laptops are being disposed of (often by landfill, if we’re lucky by bargain resale) once those service contracts end.
Some things people like about Old Thinkpads might be because they’re old. The original keyboard style isn’t made anymore, thick laptops with lots of I/O aren’t fashionable right now, hot-swappable batteries are basically gone, and new laptops aren’t as cheap as used ones.
But the core of what people like about Thinkpads? the reason they’re popular secondhand with hackers and hobbyists? the design, and repairability. These are not magical virtues of a bygone age. These things aren’t even really “virtuous” at least in terms of motivation. Lenovo doesn’t care about “Right to Repair” any more than Apple, they just sell to a different market, and make their money in a different way.
There is something “special” about Thinkpads. it’s rare for such a long tradition of design and engineering to be allowed to continue inside mega-companies like IBM and Lenovo. It’s rare for those teams of people to survive buyouts by foreign companies with their agency and independence intact. It’s rare for so much talent to be poured into one line of random business equipment for over thirty years.
But that specialness, it isn’t because “things were better back then”, or because “IBM good, apple bad.” And a lot of what people tout as unique features, or “pro-consumer” about Thinkpads are wild accidents, born of entirely separate goals of design, engineering, and business. IBM and Lenovo aren’t magical and angelic. They’re typical companies, who just happen to have some good designers and engineers. Thinkpads are good laptops, but not because of altruism, or because they’re from a “better time”. And if I’m tired of people talking about these things through the same reductive lens, and coming to the same shallow conclusions.
Yes, right to repair is important.
Yes, used tech has value and purpose
Yes, Thinkpads are good laptops.
But Thinkpads didn’t materialize out of the virtuous ether, they aren’t cheap for good reasons (treating thousand dollar laptops like garbage because they’re a few years old is insane!), and you can’t rely on corporate charity to ensure right to repair.
If you need a cheap laptop, you probably should hunt around for a used Thinkpad, they are still durable, and repairable machines, with great build quality, and they do go for dirt cheap when businesses sell them used… But don’t treat these things like they’re magic, and if you care about understanding the world, maybe don’t be too face-value when it comes to saccharine video-essays and blogs written by twenty somethings.
-A saccharine twenty something.
P.S. buying used professional gear isn’t just a good way to get a nice laptop for cheap, it’s better for everything. Whenever you can choose, used pro equippment will always beat new consumer stuff.