Every laptop is not the same and every laptop is not the IBM ThinkPad 701C. Arguably the most fascinating ultraportable computer ever made, the IBM ThinkPad 701C’s unique full-size butterfly keyboard — designed by John Karidis and inspired by his daughter’s toy — in the compact laptop was something unheard of at the time.
“The biggest reason the butterfly keyboard came out was [these] business laptops were obviously very popular with business folks and the biggest complaint that we got from customers was the competing laptops were too small,” Dilip Bhatia, Chief Customer Experience Officer and Vice-President of User & Customer Experience at Lenovo, remembers the IBM ThinkPad 701C and how it changed the market for ultraportable business laptops.
