.Yamato Thinking

There was a category in a torture test done by PC Magazine over 10 years ago that we never could have imagined. It included the rather extreme measure of “pouring coffee with milk and sugar in it on your keyboard”.

Many engineers must have said to themselves, “What are they thinking?”

As a result of doing the same test in the process of research to improve spill-resistance, we developed the “bathtub design” used in ThinkPad 600 in 1998. The aluminum is bent upwards along the edges of the chassis on the bottom of the keyboard. This holds liquids that have been spilled on the keyboard like a bathtub. From 2000, in pursuit of further structural improvements to spill-resistance, ThinkPad A20 and ThinkPad T20 included a bathtub sidewall drain, a drainage channel that avoids circuitry and a drain on the bottom of the case. As a result, the spill-resistance and drainage performance improved dramatically.

ThinkPad overwhelmingly dominated competitor products in third-party tests. In fact, ThinkPad is already able to clear test requirements that are two times as hard as those of the torture test.

I think that “ThinkPad = torture test” was already well established at that point.

Since 2005, further optimizations have been made to drainage performance such as increasing the number of drains on the bottom and optimizing the shapes of drain channels and drains. Lenovo was ahead of its competitors in the development of the bathtub design, drain channels and drains. “HOW MUCH LIQUID IS TOO MUCH LIQUID?” That is the real question. There may be a drain on the bottom of your ThinkPad too. Why don’t you check it out? (There are no drains on the ThinkPad Edge series, but liquid is held by the bathtub structure and damage is limited to a minimum. Read below for the procedures to respond to a situation like this.)

The bottom drain of the ThinkPad and its icon

If liquid ever does spill on your ThinkPad, the first thing to do is to stay calm.

Check out “eBeginner Spot – What to do when you have spilled liquid on your keyboard?” *Japanese Only. We recommend that for ThinkPads that feature bottom drains, you should also verify that the liquid has drained completely.

Procedure:
1. Immediately disconnect the AC adapter with care.

2. Turn off the power of the ThinkPad. The more quickly that the current is cut off from your ThinkPad, the more you will be able to reduce the likelihood of damage caused by a short-circuit.

3. Wipe off any liquid from the ThinkPad with a paper towel.

4. Before turning on the power of the ThinkPad, verify that it has completely dried.

Note: Contact Repair Services if you desire to change the keyboard.

Finally, I’d like to share a few inside stories with you.

1. “Coffee or Cola?”, that is the question.
We have changed the liquid that we use to spill test the keyboard from coffee to a cola product. The primary reason for this is “coffee with creamer makes the lab stink…” No, I’m just kidding (lOl). The reasons for using cola products include: Their composition is relatively stable, while the amount of milk and sugar in coffee may vary. They have a high viscosity because of their high sugar content. Finally, they are one of the most commonly consumed beverages.

2. There is no receipt for the coffee!
Initially, the engineers were buying coffee with milk and sugar for the quality testing one after another from the vending machine. Naturally, without a receipt they couldn’t recoup their expenses, but they had forgotten that. After negotiating with their boss, they were able to get some coffee tickets that could be used in the employee lounge!

3. The engineer’s dream test device
This test is even now being done manually. The engineer’s dream testing device is a “Shishi odoshi: bamboo mill fountain” design.

Shishi odoshi: This is a device made from bamboo, water and stones to produce sound automatically and is commonly used decoratively in Japanese gardens.

Please see more. T410 won.
Twitter / Lenovo Social Media: ThinkPad torture test #2: The Water Spill

ThinkPad Edge 13″ Keyboard

When you see this picture, you might be wondering, “Is this ThinkPad keyboard really all right?” Feel free to rest at ease. We have heard from many of our customers in user tests, through the web, magazines and in actual user reviews that “This is definitely a ThinkPad keyboard.” I encourage you to not only look at the photos, but actually touch one for yourself.

There’s something I’d like to say before talking about the newly developed keyboard for the ThinkPad X100e and the ThinkPad Edge 13″.

I want to talk about the new trend in notebook PCs, isolation keyboards. There still is not a common consensus on what to call these keyboards. They are being called isolation, island and chiclet keyboards, etc. Here at Lenovo, we are calling them “isolation keyboards”. It’s not that isolation keyboards are truly a new thing. This trend started at Apple and has now been incorporated into products by many of their competitors.

The keys of the ThinkPad keyboard do not protrude from the actual frame of the notebook PC like many of our competitors. There is a frame holding our keyboard and at Lenovo, we are calling this a “frame mounted keyboard”. Naturally, we have worked to maintain ease of maintenance by making it possible to replace the keyboard without actually taking apart the chassis.

Typically, isolation keyboards are thought of as having a “minimalist design that looks simple and modern,” and we often hear that “the keys are separated, making them easier to recognize and making it easier to type.” However, in comparison with traditional keyboards, there are both benefits and drawbacks in terms of “ease of typing”. The usability of the keyboard is determined by a conglomerate of factors such as the shape of the keys, pitch, stroke, layout, feel and solidity of the keyboard. We set our sights on creating the best possible isolation keyboard, one that would be worthy of carrying the ThinkPad name.

Now, back to business.

What is the difference between the ThinkPad isolation keyboard and our competitors?
1. The shape of the keys: The top of the keys are concave, helping them hug your fingertips.
2. Stroke: 2.5 mm (* The X100e is 2.0 mm)
3. Feel: The keyboard has already been tuned to an excellent feel with the same pantograph design.
4. Solidity: The keyboard is solid all around with a stainless steel base plate with a bathtub design and a resident frame.

These 4 points clearly set us apart from our competitors. In other words, the ThinkPad design philosophy remains unchanged. This keyboard has also passed the same standards in quality testing. The keystroke of the X100e is 2.0 mm. The stroke for many isolation keyboards is less than 2.0 mm, so we cannot claim dominance here. In user tests, comparing this keyboard with the 2.5 mm stroke of the original ThinkPad keyboard, there was almost no difference in usability between them. However, those were the results for the smaller sized keyboard of the X100e, and the 2.5 mm stroke of the full-size Edge 13″ keyboard is the same as the original ThinkPad keyboard.

The keys used in isolation keyboards by our competitors are completely square, but in order to maintain the integrity of this design with other ThinkPads, we selected keys with a curve in the front. This was based on the concept of making it appear as though your original ThinkPad keyboard was sprouting up right in front of you. Our designers were very strict about staying true to the ThinkPad tradition.

Air Keyboard and Edge Keyboard

There are a few other points that are different from the classic keyboard. We put a lot of time into designing the G, H and B keys shape surrounding TrackPoint cap.

What is the difference between this and previous TrackPoint designs?
1. The height of the TrackPoint cap.
-The cap is 0.4 mm lower than before.
-We increased the distance of the cap from the LCD, making it more difficult for the LCD to be broken by downward pressure.
2. The concavity of the G, H and B keys.
-Because we lowered the position of the cap by 0.4 mm, the TrackPoint cap could interfere with the keys.
-A key design that leads away from the TrackPoint cap was necessary.

The position of the TrackPoint has been reduced, but usability has been maintained. Of course, the cap remains unchanged from its original design. The key point to maintaining usability was the shape of the G, H and B keys shape surrounding the TrackPoint cap. While it’s only a difference of 0.4 mm, we are aware that sensitive human fingers can feel a difference of as little as 0.1 mm. There were many designs proposed and we selected the best of them. User testing later vindicated our choice.

Section Drawing of TrackPoint and Keys

Examples of Design Study for GHB Key Shape

Honestly, though, there were a lot of difficult choices to be made all the way down to the end. When you are carrying the ThinkPad name an “awful keyboard” is a mortal wound. “Is it really a keyboard worthy of the name ThinkPad?” We asked ourselves this question over and over again during development. Fortunately, the responses that we received from folks and users who actually touched the Edge 13″ of the X100e were very positive and we could finally relax.

This time it is a 6 row layout similar to the SL series, instead of the traditional 7 row layout. For those of you out there for whom it just “has to be seven rows!” you can relax. Lenovo will continue to provide you with a 7 row keyboard layout, even if it is an “endangered species”. (lOl)

 

It’s almost as though the snow is accumulating on our ThinkPad. Snow made of dust…

Thermal management technology is commonly acknowledged as a core technology of ThinkPad. The technology continues to develop each year, but as the intake of air increases, the amount of dust and lint sucked in along with it also increases. This dust and lint impedes the flow of air inside the computer and the ability of the fan to dissipate heat suffers. As a result, when the temperature around the CPU is high, performance deteriorates, leaving us with a serious dilemma.

The first thing we did to solve this conundrum was to take apart computers that had actually been used by our customers and researched what foreign particles had become lodged inside them. As we took apart things one at a time with our tweezers, we discovered that fibers and dust were the primary culprits.

In the MIL-SPEC standard, (a US Military standard) particles of Arizona desert sand are used for these kinds of tests. In the actual environments where notebook PCs are typically used, such as offices and houses, however, we found that house dust was the most common problem. Of course, the ThinkPad has also passed the MIL-SPEC standard dust test.

In order to tackle the dust problem, we decided to attach a mesh to the air inlet and block problem particles before they come in. This does increase costs, but it reduces malfunctions and helps us better earn the trust of our customers. We decided that it was worth it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

We purchased the dust and lint we used for our testing from a certain major manufacturer of air conditioners and air cleaners. Who knew that there were people selling dust!? There are even people buying dust!

We first used a hand-made testing device when running this test. Our intrepid staff put on a mask and ended up showered in dust during the test. From this year, however, we have begun using this chamber. Unfortunately, as a part of the response to H1N1, our workers ended up wearing masks anyway! (lOl)

Shokado Lunch Boxes

The story is famous enough to be introduced in ThinkPad – Wikipedia, but did you know that ThinkPad draws inspiration from the Shokado Bento, lunch boxes of Japan?

The concept of the ThinkPad has consistently reflected the experience of eating a Shokado lunch box. When closed, the Shokado lunch box is a simple lacquered black box, but opening it reveals an orderly and beautiful arrangement of delectable foods (like the functions of a ThinkPad). When the brand was first launched, Richard Sapper and in-house design team created this concept.

Our design consultant, “Maestro” Sapper loves Japan with all his heart. When he came to Japan to review the design, he said “I want to visit the Katsura Imperial Villa.” Under a very tight schedule, he made time to visit Kyoto and had only the highest praise for what he found there.

Now, let’s get back to lunch boxes.

At that time, there were no other black computers. In an era when the rule was that “all computers are off-white,” the extreme opposite was proposed, and this met with virulent opposition within the company. However, we made an appeal within the company to shoot for something that had never been done before, and the first notebook PC with a black chassis was born. That choice was the right one. After that, black chassis were designed for desktop computers, workstations and servers, and this contributed greatly to the unification of our brand image and our business success.

For us, to consistently preserve the “simple black box” design is as natural as Japan’s reluctance to tamper with the Shokado lunch box design. However, there are a lot of lunch box colors and shapes. “God only knows” if ThinkPad will forever retain its “black and squarish” design.

Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic. (LOL) We are always looking at a variety of design proposals.

A Variety of Lunch Boxes

 

As far as I know, the tilt drop test our company uses is unique because I haven’t seen it at any other companies. This fully automated testing machine was developed with a partner company of Lenovo, and I believe it is the only machine of its kind in the world.

When our customers first see this test, their eyes grow wide, as though they are thinking, “What on earth are these people doing?”

It’s the first time they’ve ever seen a test like this, and it can be quite difficult to grasp at first. The following is an example of the kind of conversations that our customers and our tour guides have in our basement testing center.

“When you’re putting your laptop down on the desk or when you’re picking it up, have you ever accidentally dropped your laptop from one side?”
“Yes, that happens sometimes.”
“And of course the laptop may be accessing the HDD…”
“Oh, do you mean that this test is done while the HDD is being accessed?”
“That’s right. We drop the laptop from one side while it is writing to the HDD.”

“But, wouldn’t that safety feature protect the HDD?”
“Unfortunately not… the laptop impacts moments just before the ‘ThinkVantage Hard Disc Active Protection System’ can engage. We use this test to check the ThinkPad’s own inherent ability to protect the HDD.”
“Wow…”

The development of this test goes back as far as the late 1990s. In the process of analyzing the causes of damage to HDDs, we replicated a variety of user scenarios in experiments. We were able to pinpoint side impacts from drops as a major cause of damage to HDD. Our quality teams set out to develop a new test. This test was perfected through a process of trial and error. In the beginning, of course, the tests were done by hand, dropping the computer from 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, etc.

Also, the floor material we use is fine-grained, high-quality black granite. Due to its extreme hardness and low water absorption, granite is even better suited for our test than thick hard steel plates. After apparently receiving inspiration from seeing a gravestone, we even bought our material from a stonecutter.

The turning point for this test came sometime around the year 2000. Protective rubber for the HDD and rubber pads like cat’s paws, as well as other innovations allowed us to easily exceed the standards, and improved impact resistance performance. It was then that our mechanical design team confidently requested that we “raise the bar” and we decided to take the bold step of doubling the standard. In other words, they made their own hurdles to jump over. These are some serious folks… Then a few years ago, the number of models being tested increased, and it was taking a lot of time to test them. In order to improve efficiency, we made the decision to go to a fully automated testing machine.

On the surface, it looks like a simple test, but our quality team is always saying that “methodology is the most important element of quality testing.”

Even if the testing device is perfect, if the testing conditions, procedures and pass/fail standards are not clearly established, the test isn’t complete. Consider F1 racing as an example, even if you have a car that can deliver superb performance, if the driver isn’t able to utilize its full potential, then they won’t even complete the race. You could even say that our methodology for tilt drop testing has been perfected so far that it’s pretty difficult to find room for improvement . It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say we have it “down to a science.” The improvements in our failure rates prove it.

The truth is, however, that Lenovo didn’t get this far all on our own.

We expressed our desire to HDD suppliers for improved impact resistance, and the difference between the impact resistance of modern HDDs is incomparable with what it was a dozen or so years ago. Combined with the improved performance of the ThinkPad, I think you could say it has “worked out perfectly.”

P.S.
I forgot to mention a related blog article titled, “Your ThinkPad Doesn’t Need Extra Clothing”.

After guests see the LCD stress test in our lab tour, our tour guide actually puts his own ThinkPad on the floor and steps on it with his shoes still on. He even goes the extra mile and puts all his weight on one foot… Of course it doesn’t break, since it’s passed the test, but that’s one act that’s too hard for me to follow. (LOL)

ThinkPad, unbreakable even when stepped on: Gizmodo Japan
*only Japanese

This June, Lenovo announced the brand new ThinkPad T400s.

Our readers have already gotten a peek at the T400s in our recent articles “The new keyboard -A “Wow” Layout-” and “The new TrackPoint buttons -A mere 0.1 mm, but a definite change-”. These articles covered how we designed the new generation of input devices which will be included in future ThinkPad models including the T400s. The new features include a newly designed keyboard with enlarged Esc and Delete keys, TrackPoint buttons that are 15mm larger, and a Touchpad that grew 30% in size and added Multi-touch functions, all developed with pride and confidence. Of course there are varying opinions, but so far these features have been received very well in tech review articles.

Today, we will cover the new Touchpad and other ThinkPad ingredients that have that unique Yamato influence.

The trademark feature of the new Touchpad is its textured surface. The UV-print texture is applied on top of the traditional Touchpad surface. The sensation is smooth but with a feeling of definition. The texture was inspired by the traditional Japanese handcraft technique known as Inden.

Inden is Japanese lacquer painting applied to deerskin. This technique has a history of more than 300 years. The lacquer patterning is not only made for looks. It also enhances both texture and durability. The durability was so impressive that samurai warriors applied it to the leather in their body-armor and helmets to help protect their gear. It could be said that the demand for aesthetic beauty and functionality is the same for a notebook PC.

Inden designs also carried an interesting cultural significance. One of the popular designs in Inden was the image of dragonflies, traditionally associated with victory because of their speed and constant forward flight. Eventually, they became a symbol of adamancy that Samurai warriors valued heavily.

The T400s Touchpad replicates the beauty and functionality of Inden with modern technology. But because cultural symbolism varies between nations, we had to give up on the dragonfly print for the Touchpad (what a shame).

A new design seldom has one inspiration, and sometimes it takes several. In the article “Touchpad, Tenji, and Tactile Cues” from the “Design Matters” blog, designers talk about taking inspiration from subway paving blocks for the visually impaired. This concept certainly played a large role, since the new flat and seamless design of the palm rest and Touchpad had to be distinguishable to users through texture. These paving block designs, come to think of it, come from Japan as well.

Of course, the ThinkPad is targeted for the global market, so we don’t intentionally enforce the Japanese culture as part of its design. But when I look closely at my own ThinkPad, it’s not difficult to spot traces of our culture. And once in a while, our cultural background comes in handy in the process of development.

For more stories on “Japanese Essence in ThinkPad”, please remember to check our future articles.

Now that you know about the new TrackPoint buttons from my last entry, it’s time to take a look at the new keyboard.

The new keyboard now has a very unique characteristic in its key layout.

Luckily, our 7-row ThinkPad keyboard has been widely appreciated by our customers, and it hasn’t been changed much since its birth. Still, it never hurts to set higher goals, and therefore based on our research, we are striving for an even higher level of usability.

This new layout was proposed by our Design team, and I have to admit, when I saw it, my first reaction was “Wow!” It just had an incredible visual impact. It also included the things that I wanted to have improved most, and I knew that I wanted to do whatever I could to promote it. Of course, we understand that it’s important to only make changes after thorough research and assessment, and therefore a patent is currently being requested for the new layout.

As you know, the ThinkPad keyboard has always tried to stay as true as possible to the desktop keyboard layout. The challenge is squeezing those keys onto the limited space of a notebook PC. Designers must bend their creativity towards providing the best user experience possible within limited space. During this process, we often find ourselves thinking, “the desktop keyboard might not actually be the ideal layout.” “There should be a keyboard layout that is ideal for smaller spaces.”

We look forward to our customers enjoying the new keyboard.

The input devices of the new ThinkPad have been redesigned.

First there are the TrackPoint buttons. They have a more refined and easier to use design.

Needless to say, the TrackPoint buttons are very important as they are used with the TrackPoint itself. Our Design team has been working meticulously on their design for a long time. Some other companies use pointing stick devices in their mobile products, however we have yet to see one which we really like.

The new TrackPoint buttons are a product of numerous brainstorming sessions and mockups. In fact, the number of mockups and samples that were created during the design stage were more than for any previous ThinkPad. After the basic design was decided on, the final design was fine-tuned to the point where at the end, a 0.1 mm change was applied. We must have gone through over 20 different designs.

You may wonder, “A change of 0.1 mm? What’s the big deal?”
The thing is that our fingertips are quite sensitive and that a difference of 0.1 mm can be significant in many cases. This is why we are so insistent and sensitive about this “mere 0.1 mm, but a definite change.”

Other input devices such as the keyboard and touchpad have also been tweaked. Even with all the new looks, the exterior still carries a good amount of traditional ThinkPad aesthetics where users can look at it and notice that it’s a ThinkPad after all.

We hope everyone will look forward to the new ThinkPad and its new design!

I often find that my friends are surprised when they see me slide my ThinkPad straight out of my work bag. Then they always ask the same question: “Why don’t you use a sleeve for your laptop?”

Before joining Lenovo, like most people, I used to carry my laptop and a mouse in a soft case for protection. These days, my ThinkPad goes directly into my work bag with no extra clothing — and thanks to the TrackPoint, my bag is finally mouse-free. Over the years, my PC mobility has evolved nicely.

On business trips or on vacation, many people take along their laptops to check their email. In this article, I’l let you have a look at one of the ThinkPad durability tests that addresses in-bag hazards. How well will ThinkPad hold up when an AC adaptor or other angular hazard is jammed against it inside a bag? Will the display suffer damage when pressure is applied to the top lid as the notebook is being lifted out of the bag? We’ll start with this video:

 

This test is known in Lenovo as the “LCD Stress Test” and it examines LCD glass durability along with the display problems that may occur when carrying around your ThinkPad. In this video, the center of the top cover is applied with pressure. But in the actual tests, various levels of pressure are applied at numerous spots. We even apply acute pressure to areas no larger than your finger tip — and we make sure that every user environment is taken into account.

According to one of the engineers, this test has over 10 years of history and has greatly contributed to ThinkPad evolution over the years. When this test results in cracked LCD glass or a damaged display, our engineers face a real challenge, the kind that calls for coordination of skills from various disciplines. Engineers will test every material available for laptop covers, re-design and question the smallest mechanical structure — until they have tried every thinkable approach and determined the best solution. For example, the team struggled with TrackPoint (that friendly feature that allows us to use ThinkPad on our laps) because it was positioned too closely to the LCD when the laptop was closed. These problems are countered with every technique in Mechanical Design technology, and over the years, these efforts have accumulated into encyclopedic knowledge on designing safely guarded LCDs — contributing to the ThinkPad’s competitive strength in the market.

Now that you know how they are tested, feel free to treat your Thinkpad just like any other paper notebook in your bag — no extra clothing required.

Articles on our ThinkPad Quality Testing started running on March 13th, and I was invited to write about the testing this time. I decided to write about the stress test known within Lenovo as the “Open-Close Test”, and I have to say that I’m the right person to visit the lab and interview the testers as my product is currently going through this rigorous testing.

“The saddest thing that can happen to any notebook PC is a creaking hinge that won’t open properly”.

This rather unforgiving comment was made by one of our testers.
Although future notebook PCs may operate in slightly a different manner, nearly all of the current notebooks are held together by a hinge mechanism. These parts connect the operational PC body (mainly the keyboard and motherboard) to the LCD screen. This design inevitably requires a mechanically moving part that bridges the two together.

Whenever you operate on movable parts, you are always applying pressure, and therefore you’re exposing parts to potential damage. In time, the notebook hinges come loose, tighten up, break off from adjacent parts, or even wear down the cables passing through them. Most of these troubles are an accumulated result of notebooks being opened or closed, slowly harming the mechanism each time. This movement doesn’t only cause damage to hinges, but in the long run it also takes a toll on the LCD panel.

We care a great deal about our hinges at Lenovo, so the philosophy of “All good things come to an end” is not acceptable. ThinkPad hinges have to open with that trademark “feel” — not too tight, not too loose — smooth but with a firm feel that lets you know that a solid mechanism is working inside. That’s why every time we design a ThinkPad, we work closely with our hinge manufacturers to create the most suitable hinge for that particular ThinkPad.

From the day of purchase to the day a ThinkPad is done with its last assignment, ThinkPad hinges not only have to continue to work, but they also have to maintain the trademark “feel”, and that is precisely the objective of this testing.

 

When opening or closing notebooks, applying pressure at the center of the LCD panel decreases the damage to hinges and the LCD panel. But our tests naturally assume that most users flip open a notebook with one hand, so the test is done by holding the LCD panel at its corner.

“We used to do it all by hand,” says our tester, “and we used to wonder whether this testing was for testing the notebooks, or for testing our arms”. I’ll never look at my ThinkPad hinges in the same way again.