2023: A Year in Review

2023 has been an interesting year for the channel. Quite a few things got accomplished and nearly just as many have been left in a state of completion that I was hoping were further along than where they are now. It reminds me of the quote: “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.” I want to start by thanking all viewers and supporters of the channel this year and in years past. The comments, likes, conversations, DMs, Discord messages and more mean so very much to me. Special thanks to those of you who keep me in supply of material through borrows, donations and more. Knowing that this information is valuable to people lights a fire like you cannot imagine and I want you to know that I appreciate each and every single one of you. The events of this year and previous years would not be possible without you.

Regardless, there are a few things I wanted to highlight that happened throughout the year.

Laptopretrospective.com visitor and viewer stats as of December 17, 2023.

The first is just the overall steady growth of this website which serves as a hub for all things channel-related. It also is a repository for the articles I write in place of videos. The other purpose is to report updates or addendums to existing videos where it makes more sense to write it all down versus producing another video that may or may not be adequately discovered. Thanks to everyone who found this site through various avenues and shared the content. I hope it was and continues to be helpful to those who discover it.

#MyYearOnYouTube2023 stats from January to November 30, 2023.

YouTube numbers remained steady this year. Subscriber rates have been consistent throughout the year as have other metrics. Generally speaking, the channel experienced a 10% lull in most statistics compared to previous years. I suspect that is primarily due to a few busy months where I was unable to produce the content I wanted to when I wanted to. There were also a few things that shoved around my release schedule. Another interesting point for my channel is videos on average do much better about 6+ months after they release. That is to say, the videos get more views as they age, except for Shorts of course. Whether that is due to the algorithm or other factors, I’m not sure. I’m not concerned about the current process or content having an impact on this statistic as I’ve historically seen the videos pick up as the topic trends after the creation of the video; sometimes months, even years.

YouTube Studio statistics show that the majority of views are coming from older content.

I’d love to expand a few things with the channel but I’m also aware there are barriers. Time is one of them. The channel is a wonderful hobby that I enjoy but it isn’t a source of income, nor do I seek it out to be one or I’d be doing things very differently. My film space needs work and I have a few ideas but I also know there is a great deal I don’t know so that slows down the process. Editing and thumbnails is also a time sink. All that being said, I have dreams and goals but right now, as a team of one, that is challenging to achieve. The other worth mentioning is the budget. YouTube ad revenue brings in a few hundred a month which goes right back into the channel, often to acquire machines to film and the occasional gear for filming but I’m conscious about how I spend that money. Sponsorships that involve money do not fit the current model or goals I have for the channel and that of course introduces challenges but I’m okay with that. All that being said, the channel marches forward and I hope that you enjoy the content I can produce given my current limitations.

Please enjoy some of the highlights from 2023 I’ve outlined below and here is to an amazing 2024.

January

IBM ThinkPad 350C. This video currently is the oldest ThinkPad that functions in my collection and that I’ve featured on the channel. It was fun to acquire and get it ready to film. It also came with a carrying case and an adapter to let you plug it into a 12V car port.

February

February was quieter as I was deep into testing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16. Lots of testing and filming happened this month which meant that resources were focused there and not on other areas.

March

Interviewing Dr. Ted Selker. Being able to connect with this genius was a pleasure. Learning about the development of the TrackPoint and his other efforts was amazing and I’m grateful for the time he spent speaking with me.

April

This month I was working on something that is still under wraps for now along with a few other videos. We shall see what the future holds for that project.

May

The Lenovo ThinkPad T430 line is probably one of the most diverse product lines ever fielded under a single-name designation. The article below discusses all the different experiments that occurred. It wasn’t going to be a video as the likelihood of having all those machines under the safe roof again is not high.

June

Keyboard Talk. I’ve written a lot of ThinkPad keyboards over the years and this article ended up being a summary of many thoughts I had on the subject. The bottom line is, there isn’t a bad ThinkPad keyboard. People will certainly have their preferences but I’ve learned to enjoy them all for different reasons.

Jun

A quick way to start a debate One thing that will get long-term ThinkPad users talking is the differences between all of the ThinkPad keyboards and which version is best. This can be a hotly debated topic with a lot of feelings, nostalgia, personal preference and use cases but there are some things I’d like […]

July

Project Monarch. I’d been wanting to talk about the IBM ThinkPad 701c for years. The challenge was twofold: getting a unit operational that I could film and collecting the information on the device. Both were difficult. Finding a working machine within the budget for the channel was tricky and ultimately happened due to collaboration with a viewer like you. Collecting information was something I was finding significant success with and that became its own barrier in a way. I kept learning more and more which meant I knew the full story was not in my grasp so I wasn’t ready to produce the video I wanted to make. Eventually, after years, I got to the point where I could produce the first video and be happy with it.

The goal is to produce more videos in this series as time moves on.

August

There is not much going on in August due to travel and school work. How dull right?

September

Revisiting the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 was something I knew I needed to do. The original Project Kodachi series was a critical turning point for the channel and I cherish that series and what it started with Think Design Stories and interviews in general. Over the years since Project Kodachi, I learned ever more about the X300 and knew supplemental material would be needed. That led to the creation of this article.

October

Going to Lenovo Tech World was the highlight of October. This was my first in-person technology conference and a wonderful experience. I got to meet a lot of great people and see some awesome excellent technology. The article below contains all the details.

November

The release of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1. I was testing this for several months and had the chance to test two physical devices. It certainly had a longer development cycle than some machines but it was necessary to make sure it was a successful product launch. It did mean I was “sitting” on these videos for quite some time after they were filmed but I was thrilled to be part of this process and I hope it will happen again in the future.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 Day 120: Being First, Being the Best

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 Day 14: Designed for Everywhere

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 Day 1: Unboxing Innovation

December

This busy month of real life kept me well away from my film space. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to end the year but that’s the reality sometime. At the very least I wanted to write this article before the year’s end. I was trying to track down a rare ThinkPad to feature on the channel, one that I have been looking for since the first part of this year, the 755CV or 755CDV. I thought I had one and when it arrived, it became clear the whole top case had been replaced with a stock 755 lid meaning the most unique part wasn’t even present. Back to the drawing board.

When IBM sold their PC division to Lenovo, not all was well with the iconic ThinkPad brand. IBM was losing money and wanted to get rid of the PC arm of the business for several years. ThinkPad was one of the many components that made the purchase of IBM’s PC Division desirable. Towards the end of IBM’s ownership, corners and costs were being cut to try and save money where they could and that was starting to hurt what they could do with the newer generations of ThinkPad. It would seem if IBM kept ThinkPad, things were going to get worse, not better.

To learn more about this part of the history of these two companies and a great deal about the topic of this article, the ThinkPad X300, you need to learn more about Steve Hamm’s book, “The Race for Perfect.”

David Churbuk (VP of Global Digital Marketing at Lenovo from 2005 through 2010) recalls the atmosphere in a blog post he wrote for the 25th anniversary of ThinkPad. We are fortunate that David Churbuk wrote about these experiences so we can look back at them as part of a historical record:

Lenovo was a complete unknown when it was formed in 2005. Today it is number one in the market, ahead of Dell and HP. The name “Lenovo” was coined by an expensive brand consultant and always evoked an image of a French anti-cellulite lotion in my word-warped mind. The company was a partially state-owned enterprise that dominated the Chinese market for computers but was utterly unknown in the rest of the world. Lenovo launched in the hope of becoming one of China’s first true global brands and do for the country’s reputation what Sony and Toyota had done for Japan in the late 1960s, and Samsung, LG and Hyundai had done for South Korea in the 1980s — become a premier status brand associated with innovation and high-concept design and dispel the image of China being a low-cost, low-quality producer of dreck.

The negative sentiment expressed by the ThinkPad faithful towards Lenovo was intense, verging on racism. As I read the comments on the gadget blogs like Gizmodo and the independent ThinkPad forums, I discovered a cult of over-weening, obsessive, compulsive and paranoid cultists who knew down to the penny the precise bill of materials that comprised a ThinkPad almost as well as David [Hill]’s own staff. Each and every new ThinkPad released by Lenovo in 2006 was scrutinized by the horde for signs of cost-cutting or diminished quality. The rubber feet under the case. The feel of the rubberized paint on the lid. The fit and finish. The decals….The faithful were skeptical and on high alert.

In terms of timelines and based on the reading, research and interviews I’ve done over the years, the cost-cutting and outsourcing of manufacturing were happening often during the last of the IBM years. Examples of this can be seen through the changes in materials, designs and even the cost-saving decision for the ThinkLight to be amber since those LEDs were cheaper. Several models were being produced by Acer, LG and Lenovo rather than in-house by IBM. When the transition occurred, Lenovo understandably had a lot to learn about being a large designer and manufacturer of PCs in a global market. That is a significant jump for a company to make. It wasn’t perfect and neither was what they were handed.

So when it came time for Lenovo to build their own ThinkPad from the ground up without IBM, they needed to get it right. They had to prove to the world that they knew what they were doing and could do just as good or better than IBM. For this next part of the story, I recommend if you haven’t already viewed the Project Kodachi video series on my YouTube channel to get a better understanding of the context that brought about the ThinkPad X300.

Laptop Mag in 2008 named David Hill, the chief designer of the ThinkPad X300, #19 on their 25 Most Influential People in Mobile Technology for his work on the ThinkPad X300 and compared it favourably against the rival of the time, the MacBook Air. Contrary to popular belief, the X300 was well into development by the time the Air was announced and was not created in response to the efforts of Apple. That myth came about as a result of the direct comparisons drawn at the time.

From David Hill’s archives, a photograph of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 fitting inside of an inter-office envelope.

This comparison and rivalry would extend to the ThinkPad X301 and the sleek black box did well when compared to other machines of the day:

Apple came out with the MacBook Air — an incredibly thin, sexy and largely impractical notebook, while Lenovo brought out the ThinkPad X300, which shared the Air’s size but otherwise was almost the polar opposite. The X300 wasn’t anywhere near as attractive but was a product you could truly live on, being vastly more practical. The X301 improves on the X300, having more performance and the option of an amazingly fast 128-GB hard drive. I’m a huge fan of these solid state drives; they are dead quiet, use little power and have blindingly fast read rates. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive, but darned if they aren’t worth it.

—

The MacBook Air is arguably the most attractive notebook in the market, while the X301 is the closest to overall perfection. The market tends to favor appearance over practicality at the moment, but the true perfect laptop would be one that was as good looking as the Air and as practical as the X301. We’ll see if Apple or Lenovo gets there first.

—

Lenovo’s X301 is arguably the closest thing to notebook perfection, but if sales volumes are to reflect this, it will need to improve its appearance and find an economically more attractive entry price. In the end, however, this is all about choice — and Apple, Dell and Lenovo are providing ever-more-interesting ones. Being a fan of choice, that has to be a good thing.

Apple vs. Dell vs. Lenovo: Got to Love Choices by Rob Enderle December 8, 2008

A Lenovo ThinkPad T430s and X1 Carbon Gen 3. Both owe some of their design language to the X300.

The ThinkPad X300 launched a new era of ThinkPads. It would lead to the creation of the ThinkPad X1 and the first ThinkPad X1 Carbon which is the industry standard for a business laptop. The DNA and design of the ThinkPad X300 would be transformed in the X1 series but would continue with a few changes in the emergence of the ThinkPad T400s and subsequent T410s, T420s and T430s models. The location of the ports and features of the device would harken back to the layout first configured on the ThinkPad X300. David Churbuk seems to agree:

Ah ….. This thing took all the glory of our X300 — the notebook Businessweek called the Perfect PC — and puts it into a serious heatseeker of a laptop. You can, if you are inclined to spend the big dollars, make this thing behave like a serious workstation. Configure it with a big SSD drive, max the RAM and you’re talking one of the most powerful laptops ever conceived. Super thin, and loaded. I could see toting this around for the next two years with never a regret.

Google Translate:
How can you make a great notebook PC even better?
・Further improve the functions of the T series
・Equipped with new technology developed for X300
・The thinnest and lightest in the series
・Inherits the features of the excellent T series
・Reduction of system price
14-inch 1440×900 WXGA+ LED-backlit LCD with wide display area
Optical drive with a height of 9.5mm
・Blu-ray, DVD super multi-drive
Uses a standard voltage processor with excellent performance (25W)
Extensibility with new docking station Mini Dock Ⅲ
Original Image: Marasu Kamikura

Without the creation of the ThinkPad X300, it is uncertain if Lenovo would have the success it has enjoyed with the ThinkPad brand. While the X1 Carbon and T series often steal the show in terms of most popular choices for a quality business laptop, neither would be where they are today without the ThinkPad X300.

The T430 Line-Up: Celebrating Experimentation

ThinkPad Keyboards: Classic, Modern and why you can love them both

The Importance of the ThinkPad X300

My Lenovo Tech World 2023 Experience

The Importance of the ThinkPad X300