Comment by scrlk
4 days ago
> When designing the 25th anniversary ThinkPad, which came out in 2017, Hill brought back the ThinkLight, but he actually wanted to have – for the first time – two LEDs instead of one. The dual lights would have eliminated shadows and provided even better illumination, but unfortunately, this effort proved too costly to make it into the final product.
Dual ThinkLights appeared on two models - W700 & W701: https://youtu.be/LSHP7VRs0bI?t=658
There was also a dual screen variant, which had a secondary screen that popped out to the right of the primary screen: https://youtu.be/mzhZH9LK1ac?t=26
Too costly to have two LEDs? I question if that is the case.
The 25th Anniversary ThinkPad was a modified T470. I assume that the cost issues were related to a requirement to minimise the number of case modifications required from the stock T470. Incorporating a ThinkLight would require a redesigned display lid.
I get what you mean but still, it's a one off special edition. A company as big as Lenovo doesn't need to do everything for profit. I would understand if it was a new model design that could sell tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands but the T25 was a limited run, make it beautiful.