The ThinkPad 750 flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope on December 2, 1993. The ThinkPad 750C's task was to run a NASA test program which determined if radiation inherent in the space environment causes memory anomalies in the 750C or generates other unexpected problems.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"> </sup>In 1995, the average number used was five, and in 1999 the average number was nine. Throughout 2006, a ThinkPad A31p was being used in the Service Module Central Post of the International Space Station and seven ThinkPad A31p laptops were in service in orbit aboard the International Space Station. As of early 2010 the Space Station is equipped with 68 ThinkPad A31p computers plus 32 new Lenovo ThinkPad T61p laptop<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference">s.</sup>
ThinkPads have been praised for exceptional build quality, system reliability, services and design throughout their decade and a half of presence in the consumer market.<sup id="cite_ref-Hamm_8-0" class="reference"> </sup>The original design was a collaboration between Tom Hardy, corporate head of the IBM Design Program, Italian-based designer Richard Sapper (noted for the design of classic products such as the Tizio lamp for Artemide, office chair for Knoll, kitchenwares for Alessi and ballpoint for Lamy) and Kazuhiko Yamazaki, lead notebook designer at IBM's Yamato Design Center in Japan.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"></sup> Sapper proposed a design inspired by the
Shōkadō bentō, a traditional black-lacquered Japanese lunch box.
<sup id="cite_ref-Hamm_8-2" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"></sup>
The fold-out butterfly keyboard, which appeared in the ThinkPad 701 series, is widely considered a design masterpiece and is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The ThinkPad 760 series also included an unusual keyboard design; the keyboard was elevated by two arms riding on small rails on the side of the screen, tilting the keyboard to achieve a more ergonomic design.
The 755CV featured another design quirk: the screen could be separated from the lid, allowing it to be used to project the computer display using an overhead projector, before data projectors were commonplace.
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