The ThinkLight: Shedding Light on the Legend (ft. David Hill)
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- Опубликовано: 19 мар 2021
- Please join me and David Hill for this short tribute and history of one of the most iconic features to ever exist on the ThinkPad, the ThinkLight.
Special thanks to all of the different people who contributed to this project.
David Hill
Tasurinchi
The Forgotten King
Steve Hamm
Lenovo and IBM
Matt Kohut
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As a student living in a dorm with 5 other people in one room, using the thinklght as a study lamp to not disturb others is the best feature a laptop can have
It's human respecting design.
ahhh yes the superior way to light your keyboard
David would agree with you and so would I. ;-)
Always. 1000x more robust than backlighting.
Reading papers in the dark with a portable, built in light source is key.
The best part about these is that they're like little banker's lamps and you feel like you're in that one scene in Legally Blonde when you're in a dark lecture hall.
Something really comforting about it.
This series with David Hill is one of the best not only on this channel but on any other one in regards to insights into the design of Thinkpads. As i am in agreement with the creator of this channel, the Thinklight was my favorite feature of the laptop. I can remember "wowing" people with that feature when i would turn it on in dark settings. The concept that is important to note is that it allowed you to see other items such as notes as well as the keys when in use. That fact was stated in the video but few people ever think of how important that functionality is in use. The design team along with David Hill were what made a "Thinkpad" a Thinkpad. Sadly most if NOT all of the super kewl features are gone. No Thinklight, No drainholes, no ultrabay hot swap-able modules and latches to keep the lid closed. Yes i use a modern Thinkpad BUT it's a shadow of a machine that the older units were in their day. People don't get "wowed" by the newer models because there's no UNIQUE features anymore. There is no design team thinking or implementing these ideas anymore. It makes me sad.
There are still unique features, but they are for a different age of computing. Laptop users aren't using their devices or are even the same groups of people anymore. Certain trends like backlit keyboards won out over the ThinkLight, Ultrabays aren't really needed anymore, nor are latches. That isn't to say that I don't miss those features, but I also understand why they aren't there anymore.
@@LaptopRetrospectivelatches unfortunately are still needed. unfortunately “new generation / new school” people don’t understand Physics: the “latch” was so that the lid/lcd-display wouldn’t accidentally-open without you wanting it to open / if you didn’t want it to open. but unfortunately eliminating-it meant “add extra rigidity to the hinges, so that the-damn-thing can’t be-opened by itself”. (it’s always-best to open it with 2 hands, like you used-to-do when you had the latch. 1 set-of-fingers holding the laptop down, & the other set of fingers to open the latch). now-unfortunately you have people whining-&-complaining “I can’t open the laptop with 1 hand 🥺”. It’s their own fault: I could easily-open my Toshiba Satellite A40-SP151 (that had the latch) with only *ONE* hand!
Yet another cool video on a feature that was done better by older machines.
Seriously, the Thinklight was so much more useful.
Thanks Henry, glad you enjoyed the video.
Another amazing ThinkPad documentary Flawless job, well done
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I love the light on my X230. I regret selling my backlit keyboard I had for it though.
As the meme says: "Why not both?"
Great feature. Sad that there isn't one on my X220 Tablet.
Yeah, no dice on the tablets.
wow the 9 minutes felt like 4, i loved it
Awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Such a great feature, such a great story.
Thankyou
Thanks for watching!
15k subs. Very nice. Great interview too.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating, thanks for sharing this info! The uv light cud be an amazing mod, such a shame it never made it to production
It would have been tricky I think because keyboards are high-wear surfaces and I suspect, it would have been less effective over time.
@@LaptopRetrospective ye fair point. would be cool to have secret stickers on the chassis/case top
Trackpoint tapping feature also got shredded. This is worth a separate video! I loved it, singel finger operation was so great!
Yeah the TrackPoint is a topic unto itself.
What is the Trackpoint "tapping" feature?
Tapping on some models would left click. The capability of the TrackPoint has not been fully realized. If you watch my interview with Ted Selker, the creator of the TrackPoint, you'll see.
I have two X40 series X40 & X41 both have amber Thinklights.
Ah shoot, I forgot the X30, X31, X32, X40 and X41 had them as well. Thanks for the correction.
Great to see a feature on this ingenious invention. Thank you! And a special thank you to David!
Cheers and thanks to you Thomas for your continued support!
Apple: let's make extra thin and compact laptops
Lenovo: LMAO let's just cram everything you need into what Is essentially a fricking brick
Lenovo employee: what's next a fricking night light?
Lenovo: BINGO, GUESS WHO'S GETTING A RAISE
Slight correction to your chat above, IBM technically.
@@LaptopRetrospective I wanna edit the comment but I already got the heart
It's all good. 👍
Great job.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
holy moly i didn't realize how huge the w700s were until i saw this
Yeah, it is massive.
I feel a problem of the ThinkLight is that it needs to be at a certain angle to the keyboard to work. Old ThinkPads uses to have a overhanging bezel that would help in creating that angle. On a flat bezel, this doesn't work well. I had a T430u, which had a flat bezel and a ThinkLight - the result was that the ThinkLight would shine more into the eyes compared with older models, which was more irritating.
Very interesting observation! Thanks for sharing.
.... So great memories ..!!! .. Back then I used a R60e and what it impressed me the most is that this well engineered features we’re adopted even in the low profiles models like this one ... Raised with the amber ThinkLight, never got a model with the LED one.
The white LED is a thing to behold.
goodnight sweet prince...
Really wish these could make a comeback in a similar placement to where they were before. I know Lenovo can do it and it won't cost them much. Shame because they're such a neat feature. I'd love the ability to customize the LED brightness and color if they did come back.
It could be done, I'm sure but the R&D and design considerations would probably cost more than the actual parts. That's speculation of course. We came close; it appears the T25 was originally being planned with two of them.
@@LaptopRetrospective Wish my X270 could have one so I wouldn't have a big need to rummage through the whole thing to reach the keyboard to replace for the backlight part. It's a very good compromise in my mind for the ultra-portables moving forward post xx30 series. Press 2 buttons, get a light. Simple. I'd pay them in their configuration window any day to have that module back in a ThinkPad the same way they'd offer the backlit option. Wish the T25 could've released with it it'd at least be a cool mod if it were to reach the hobbyist market and people got it working in other models.
Maybe ThinkMods will do something one day but I'm not sure how without modifying the bezel and depending on where they are getting power from, cable management in the hinge might be a bit tricky.
I'm using my X220T right now, but it doesn't have a ThinkLight, but that doesn't matter because I used that laptop on the dock as a two monitor desktop machine. My X301 is my portable daily driver and I use the ThinkLight all the time. The only thing I don't like about the ThinkLight is that as the keys get glossy over time there is glare that removes some of the appeal.
Good point Carl, that was one of the things that the Dual ThinkLight prototype I believe was to address, that and reduce shadows.
@@LaptopRetrospective Dual ThinkLights. I'm imagining a Transformer Autobot that transforms into a black Lamborghini and also into a Thinkpad with it's eyes and headlights becoming the dual ThinkLights.
Haha, now there's an idea for the next Transformers reboot.
@@LaptopRetrospective Yes, the protagonist finds an old ThinkPad in the thrift shop and takes it home. What happens next changes everything. ;)
"A keyboard is not supposed to be looked at" must have come up here and there. It's just a big problem any way as "the secretary" can't see some paper notes and so forth in the transport and other demanding conditions of doing it before it's too late. With 50 dongles the odds of carrying the right one decreases and the top CEO will wonder where the efficiency went. :)
I think it had more to do with market trends and the ThinkLight wasn't really known or advertised anywhere near as much as manufacturers pushing backlit keyboards.
And then Lenovo trashed the keyboard and the ThinkLight.... oh for a T43p... the last of the legends.
There are mixed thoughts on the keyboards but the absence of the ThinkLight is indeed a missed feature.
My only ThinkPad with a ThinkLight is actually the T420.
My X60t has none and the X240 has backlit keys.
Pretty sure my T400 had a ThinkLight as well... but that TP went lost :/
At least you have one. ☺️
With my bad eyes, the backlit keyboard is better for me. With the ThinkLight, I have to angle the lid in order for it to be effective. But I can see its usefulness. Like you said, "Why not both?" Dual ThinkLights with two levels of brightness would be cool.
I thought the Fn+PgUp key combo was intuitive, although Fn+Spacebar works, as well. Best of all is when the computer has an ambient light sensor, so the backlight turns on automatically :-D .
Yeah, the x30 era offering both was the best of both worlds.
Except the keyboard layout sucks, all so people can have a bigger touchpad. Get a Mac if you want to use a touchpad :-D .
Honestly I prefer the amber ThinkLight, mainly because it's not as bright and has a very warm colour.
Fair enough!
I never found it made a big difference compared to the light cast upon the keyboard by the display.
I'd be curious to know what models you used. The difference for me is pretty significant.
@@LaptopRetrospective T42
I do believe think light are better than backlight keyboard.
It's a tool, not just a feature!
Honestly if I were to complain about the ThinkLight that came with my X220, it would be that I couldn't use it on if the power is off. I mean, the USB port can still be used to charge things after the computer is shut down so why can't the ThinkLight?
Probably because it uses a keyboard shortcut to work, so the keyboard would need to always be draining a little bit of power along with it's controller.
@ranan rahim Well, an option will always be nice. I suppose the space near the Wi-Fi switch could probably house a ThinkLight switch.
The early prototypes had one but it was hard to find in the dark.
Does the ThinkLight introduces any glare on the screen?
Not really, no. Most ThinkPads equipped with them have matte displays and the designers knew how to angle it "just so."
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks. Another question, do you feel your eyes tired by that white light after 1 or 2 hours of working in the dark, or do you need some ambient light?
You aren't looking directly into the light at any time; I haven't experienced any issues.
@@learningbird9940 In my personal experience, it’s much, much better than working with just a backlit keyboard, as it provides at least some ambient light of sorts.
But having some real ambient light in the room is still much preferable for doing actual work for extended periods of time.
While the ThinkLight does work like a little desktop lamp, in a way, its light output is rather limited, and fairly focused on the keyboard and immediate surroundings. So, again: much better than just the screen and a backlit keyboard, but still far from optimal for extended use.
Fair points, it really depends on your situation.
backlit keyboards suck! it's barely more legible than ambient lighting, it's distracting, and it's usually worse legibility than the keyboard normally has, by a lot!
I was working on the dark yesterday on my laptop and wished for a ThinkLight. 😁