Design Matters

I’m going to take the poll down after Friday and we’ll tally the votes for Monday, so cast your votes on the wireless switch! Poll is at the bottom of the left column. Thanks everyone

I had some requests for more pictures of the Yamato Design Center, so here they are! My colleague Nariaki Mieki sends these pictures with warm regards from Japan.

Floor plan of Yamato Design Center

This is one of the desks our industrial designers sit, featuring a Mario Bellini chair and one of our designers hard at work. Proving they aren’t all work and no play, many people ask “Is this the Sushi Bar?”

Here you can see a designer’s workshop. This converts between a photo studio and workspace in about a minute – talk about efficiency with both space and time!

Finally we come to a meeting room, filled with Alberto Meda chairs for up to 10 people. Look closely at the whiteboard – see any company secrets? I hope not!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief insiders look at our Yamato Design Center, home of one of Lenovo’s talented design teams.

David Hill

Long-time ThinkPad users will undoubtedly recognize the key combination Fn+F5, used to control the wireless radios. As we grew into the 40-series ThinkPads (T4x, R4x, etc), we began to see a common denominator amongst reviews of our product: people wanted a wireless radio button or switch.

Most of our competitors had a single switch or button that would enable/disable the wireless radio(s). Why didn’t we just add one on a whim when they started to become popular in laptop designs? As with most notebook designs, but moreso with ThinkPad in particular, every centimeter of space is a constant give & take regarding features or aesthetics. There isn’t a single area on these machines that doesn’t have a specific purpose in its design. Adding a switch or a bell or a whistle is a concerted effort.

That said, we made the move to a dedicated wireless radio switch with the ThinkPad T60. Placed on the front underside bezel, the switch is relatively inconspicuous and out of the way. Usability is key here, so the switch makes knowing your wireless status as easy as possible. You already have the wireless LED indicator below the screen, this would of course turn off when you turn the switch off. There is also an on-screen box that pops up to let you know the status of radios.

Finally, there are two sets of visual indicators on the switch itself. The silkscreened icons on either side of the switch depict on-status to the right and off to the left. When the switch is on, the background behind the switch is green to provide just another cue as to which way switch operates.

Sure, to some companies, adding a switch is as simple as dragging and dropping something in a CAD drawing. We like to think such decisions are more purposeful, and realistically they have to be given the constant struggle for space, features, cost, reliability, and size within a Lenovo computer.

Since some people may still use the old Fn+F5 trick, some leave WiFi on all the time, and others may not know it is even there, I’m curious: do you use the hardware WiFi switch? Let me know in the poll at the bottom left!

David Hill

Ever wonder what the studio space looks like where ThinkPad’s industrial design team sits? It’s not a big space but it is very efficient, kind of like a ThinkPad. Our space in Yamato, Japan was designed by Nariaki Mieki, one of the original ThinkPad designers.

Here is a shot looking into the entrance

Here’s one of the design team meeting rooms. I like the way it looks like a surgical operating room. The design doctor will see you now.

Sorry I can’t show you any pictures of the future designs they are working on, but I’m sure you can imagine a thin black rectangle

David Hill

I always cringe when I read a story about a ThinkPad that meets with disaster. This tale over at Gottabemobile really got me, but in the end …..

Eddie VanDerbeck writes:

“While hanging out (in bed) this past Saturday morning, checking out the latest posts at my favorite tablet PC and UMPC news source, GottaBeMobile.com, it happened again. Yes, to the very same Lenovo X60 tablet. I was enjoying my coffee in bed, checking out the latest news/posts and answering a few emails when the phone rang. Just like I have done soooooo many times, I carefully put the coffee down, and reached over to my wife’s side of the bed for the phone; that’s when it happened. A quick scuffing sound, and then BBLLLAAAAMMMM! The X60 slid off the lapdesk and onto the floor from about 3 or so feet. From the sound of it, I just knew I had just ripped off the display, and destroyed not one, but two hard drives. I was so preoccupied with the crash, I can’t even remember who called or if I even answered the phone.”

Read on to see how the story ends.

David Hill