ThinkPad TransNote
| IBM ThinkPad TransNote | |
| Manufacturer | IBM |
|---|---|
| Product family | ThinkPad |
| Type | 2-in-1 PC, Graphics tablet |
| Release date | February 28, 2001; 24 years ago (2001年02月28日)[1] |
| Discontinued | October 28, 2003; 21 years ago (2003年10月28日)[2] |
| Operating system | |
| CPU | Mobile Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) @ 600 MHz |
| Memory | 64-320 MB PC100 SDRAM |
| Storage | 10 or 20 GB HDD |
| Removable storage | CompactFlash |
| Display | 10.4" SVGA TFT Touchscreen |
| Graphics | ATI Rage Mobility M |
The ThinkPad TransNote is a notebook computer by IBM [3] that was launched in February 2001.[4]
Design
[edit ]The TransNote was an internal collaboration between IBM's Research and Personal Computing Division (PCD). Randy Moulic, manager of client systems at IBM, merged the pen technologies group and mobile PC platform group to work on the prototype.[5] John Karidis was responsible for the mechanical design of the TransNote.[6] [7] Kardis and Ronald Smith developed the system that allows the TransNote to fold on top of itself to reduce the footprint of the device.[8]
The TransNote was created to combine the CrossPad which IBM developed in collaboration with A.T. Cross and a laptop computer, specifically the ThinkPad. IBM was targetting two groups with the development of the TransNote: note-takers and graphic-intensive users.[9]
The TrasNote received several patents for its design and features.[8] [10] [11] [12]
Features
[edit ]The TransNote consists of a leather-like folio case which contains a computer on one side and a paper notebook on the other side.[13]
The CrossPad technology would become known as ThinkScribe on the TransNote.[14] The ThinkScribe pad had 2MB of internal memory to record notes that could be stored and then transferred to the computer component.[13] The notes could be converted into JPEG, TIFF and PDF formats.[5]
The hardware relies on the use of the software package InkManagerPro which was developed for the TransNote. [15]
Specifications
[edit ]The TransNote comes equipped with:
- 10.4" TFT FlipTouch display (800x600 resolution)
- 600 MHz Intel Mobile Pentium III
- ATi Rage Mobility M 4MB [16]
- 10GB or 20GB HDD
- 64MB PC-100 memory standard, 320 MB max
- CompactFlash dock
- CardBus slot (type 2)
- PC Card slot.[17]
- Two audio controllers:
- Intel AC'97 Audio with a CS4297A codec
- Crystal Semiconductor CS4281
- MiniPCI slot with one of the following:
- ThinkScribe digital notepad
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The battery pack uses flat Samsung 103450 cells.[18]
Reception
[edit ]Computerworld called it a "failed design" because it tried to blend a large 3M digitized pad with a tiny underpowered laptop in the same product.[19] PCQuest viewed it as an attractive choice for people who travel a lot.[20] TechRepublic called it one of the 25 "unique and bizarre breakthroughs" in laptop innovation.[21]
Awards
[edit ]The TransNote won a Gold iF Product Design Award in 2002 in the product discipline.[22] The TransNote was the winner in the PC category of the PC Magazine Awards for Technical Excellence in 2001.[23] It also won an IDSA IDEA Award in 2001.[24]
Academia
[edit ]The TransNote was utilized in a handwriting study that examined the writing speed and "wrinkliness" as it related to forged handwriting.[25]
Further developments
[edit ]IBM announced the discontinuation of the TransNote in February 2002, intending to discontinue it at the end of the year.[26] John Karidis noted that IBM learned a lot about the tablet PC market and the kinds of customers that use these devices.[9]
References
[edit ]- ^ "Announcement Letter 101-039, IBM ThinkPad TransNote Portfolio Notebook Redefines Mobile Computing" (PDF) (Press release). IBM. February 20, 2001.
- ^ "Announcement Letter 903-189, Hardware withdrawal: Selected IBM ThinkPad notebook computers - Replacements available" (PDF) (Press release). IBM. September 30, 2003.
- ^ Schofield, Jack (2001年01月18日). "Putting pen to PC". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023年04月15日.
- ^ Sherriff, Lucy (21 February 2001). "IBM handwriting notebook gets an outing". The Register .
- ^ a b Chase, Victor. "IBM Think Research | TransNote: a new product for IBM, a new experience for Research". research.ibm.com. Archived from the original on 2001年06月06日. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "Who is engineering's greatest hero?". www.designnews.com. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ Spooner, John (July 20, 2001). "Shaping the evolution of the PC". CNET. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ a b US6307741B1, Karidis, John P. & Smith, Ronald Alan, "System and method for improving the physical management of a portfolio computer and reducing the footprint thereof during operation", issued 2001年10月23日
- ^ a b Cullen, Chervi Dangel; Haller, Lynn, eds. (2006), Design secrets: Products. 2: 50 real-life projects uncovered, Gloucester, Mass: Rockport Publishing, pp. 70–73, ISBN 978-1-59253-292-6
- ^ US20020041290A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Extending the GUI desktop/paper metaphor to incorporate physical paper input", issued 2002年04月11日
- ^ US20020040817A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Data steering flip pen system", issued 2002年04月11日
- ^ US20020042888A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Digitizer companion subsystem to extend PC battery life", issued 2002年04月11日
- ^ a b "Pen Computing Magazine: IBM ThinkPad TransNote". Pen Computing Magazine. Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ Wagstaff, Jeremy. "IBM's TransNote Lets Users Doodle Without Much Fuss". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023年04月15日.
- ^ "Pen Computing Magazine: IBM ThinkPad TransNote". www.pencomputing.com. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "Category:TransNote - ThinkWiki". www.thinkwiki.org. Retrieved 2022年08月18日.
- ^ "ThinkPad TransNote | WIRED". WIRED . 2016年12月21日. Archived from the original on Dec 21, 2016. Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ "Fail Of The Week: Battery Packin'". Hackaday . 2014年09月25日. Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ Enderle, Rob (2019年05月20日). "Lenovo Accelerate: The coming disruptive evolution/evolution of the laptop". Computerworld . Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ Rajguru, Sunil (2001年07月11日). "IBM ThinkPad TransNote: Notebook-cum-digital Notepad". PCQuest . Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ Forrest, Conner (April 14, 2016). "Laptop innovation: A history of unique and bizarre breakthroughs". TechRepublic . p. 23. Retrieved 2021年04月16日.
- ^ "IBM ThinkPad TransNote". iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE. Archived from the original on 2021年04月18日. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "The Eighteenth Annual Awards for Technical Excellence". PC Magazine . p. 95 – via Google Books.
- ^ "IBM TransNote". Industrial Designers Society of America. 2001. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
- ^ Chen, Hung-Chun; Cha, Sung-Hyuk; Chee, Yi-Min; Tappert, Charles (January 2003). "The detection of forged handwriting using a fractal number estimate of wrinkliness". ResearchGate – via ResearchGate.
- ^ Spooner, John G. "IBM erases pen-based notebook". ZDNet . Retrieved 2021年04月18日.
External links
[edit ]- Official website (in Japanese) at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001年06月03日)
- TransNote: a new product for IBM, a new experience for Research at the Wayback Machine (archived February 9, 2006)
- "IBM ThinkPad TransNote Getting Started Guide". Internet Archive . IBM. November 2000.
- "IBM ThinkPad Transnote" (PDF). IBM.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2003.
- Transnote.info at the Wayback Machine (archived July 17, 2016)
- Laptop.pics
- Japanese TransNote brochure Archived 2022年07月23日 at the Wayback Machine
- IBM Hardware Maintenance Manual