The IBM ThinkPad 701 is a subnotebook in the ThinkPad line by IBM. The 701 is colloquially known as the Butterfly due to its sliding keyboard, which was designed by John Karidis. It was developed from 1993 and sold from March 1995 until later that year and priced between $1,499 and $3,299. The 701 was the most sold laptop in 1995 and has received 27 design awards. It was based on either the DX2 or the DX4 version of the Intel i486, combined with CT-65545 graphics chip from Chips and Technologies. The 701Cs version used a DSTN display, while the 701C used a TFT LCD. It was pre-installed with Windows 3.11 and for the DX4 models also with OS/2 Warp 3.0. The 701 was discontinued because the keyboard design was no longer a necessity after screen sizes increased. After its discontinuation there has been some speculation about a new notebook with a butterfly style keyboard.
Development
The 701 was a collaboration project between the manufacturing facility at the Research Triangle Park near Raleigh, North Carolina, United States and the development facility at Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The concept of the keyboard was first developed as a photocopy of a keyboard in spring 1993. In the summer, a plexiglass prototype was developed. The decision to fund the notebook was made in the fall of 1993, with the introduction planned a year later. Because the process was delayed, it used the Intel 486 instead of the faster Pentium when it was released.[2] The keyboard was designed by with John Karidis,[3]Sam Lucente and Robert Tennant. Richard Sapper has been responsible for the overall ThinkPad design.[4] Other contributors include Lawrence Stone, Michael King, Martin Tucker and Gerard McVicker.[5]
The 701 was codenamed butterfly internally at IBM, and engineers also wanted to use this name as the official one. The IBM legal department did not allow the name of living creatures for products. It was part of the subnotebook series like the ThinkPad 500, but they did not want to attach the same name to this model due to bad sales of the previous 500 model. The 600 series was a reserved name, so they used the 700 series which was intended for the high-end models.[2]
IBM bought advertising space in major newspapers, in the lower corner or on the upper right side of a page. They only used an image of a butterfly without anything else. Days later, they added the IBM logo with a butterfly icon.[clarification needed] A couple of days later, the text "Watch for the announcement" was added.[2]
After the announcement, IBM received a legal threat about the usage of the name "butterfly" by someone known only as George, as it violated their company's trademark on a supercomputer product named Butterfly. IBM replied that they did not plan to use it as a brand name, and no legal action or further correspondence took place.[2]
Initially, IBM failed to supply the demand for the 701.[7]
Because of the high reward of the 701 design, model kits were developed so a souvenir version of the 701 could be made.[8]
Specifications
The IBM ThinkPad 701 with accessories
The subnotebook series was released in different variations, with either the Intel DX2 or Intel DX4, LCD with dual scan or TFT active matrix. They were sold with different disk sizes. They all contained the same graphics chips and preinstalled software, except for the DX4 versions which were dual booted with IBM OS/2. It was based on the AT bus and could be extended with a Dock II type. Pre-installed software included Lotus cc:Mail, Organizer, ScreenCam, PRODIGY, America Online, Video for Windows 1.1 Runtime and Audiofile TalkWorks. The operating system installed was IBM DOS 6.3, Windows 3.11, while DX4 machines included OS/2 Warp 3.0 in dual boot mode with selected BonusPack. The graphics processing unit (GPU) was a CT-65545, with 1MB DRAM by Chips and Technologies on VL-Bus 2.0. It supported an external SVGA display up to 1024x768 with 256 colors at 70Hz.[9]
IBM ThinkPad 701C with the keyboard slid halfway open
The keyboard used in the 701 is officially known as the TrackWrite, but commonly known and code-named as the butterfly keyboard.[10] The design allowed the 701 series to be both compact (when closed) and comfortable to use (when open), despite being just 24.6 cm (9.7 in) wide with a 26.4 cm (10.4 in) VGALCD. The keyboard is split into two roughly right triangle pieces that slide as the laptop's lid is opened or closed. As the lid is opened both pieces slide out to the sides, followed by one piece sliding downward. The two halves mesh to form a keyboard 29.2 cm (11.5 in) wide which overhangs the sides of the laptop body. Conversely, as the lid is closed one piece slides back, then both slide inward until the keyboard can be covered by the lid. The movement of the keyboard is driven by a cam on the lid's hinge, so the motions of the keyboard parts are always synchronized with the movement of the lid.[2]
Reception
In a 1995 review of the 701C by InfoWorld the full-sized keyboard, large matrix screen and built-in multimedia features were positively noted. The nonstandard I/O ports were seen negatively.[clarification needed][11] The ThinkPad 701 has received 27 design awards, including the "Good Design Award" from CES Innovation and "1995 Product of the year" in the subnotebook category from InfoWorld.[2][12]Domus noted in a 2019 article that: "Even today, this portable PC amazes anyone who sees it open and close, and more than twenty years have gone by.".[13] The 701C was the top selling laptop of 1995.[14]Walt Mossberg considered it the most unusual and clever laptop he ever reviewed.[15] The laptop is still popular with collectors, 26 years after its release.[16]
According to John Karidis, the IBM ThinkPad 700 succeeded because of the large screen size and full-sized keyboard, while other companies cramped their keyboards and failed. Karidis observed that the limiting factor in the laptop size was the keyboard width and that the screen and keyboard surface were equal with different aspect ratios.[2]
The 701 was withdrawn per December 21, 1995, which IBM announced a month before.[19] This was due to newer laptop models containing larger screens, so the laptop could contain a full sized keyboard without a folding mechanism. Other companies were also moving to Pentium processors.[2][20] The 701 series has been described as a product that had innovative features that were well received in the market, but the total package missed the competitive mark.[2] A few months after the release of the 701, the ThinkPad 760 was released which is based on the original Intel Pentium processor.
In 2003, ZDNet reported that the IBM Design Center was experimenting with new laptop models that included a butterfly keyboard.[21] David Hill stated that he tried to bring back the butterfly design, but was not able to do so.[22] In 2021, Lenovo has filed a patent for a keyboard that is similar to the one used in the 701.[23]
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