An ode to Lenovo’s TrackPoint, the little red nub with a storied history

Lenovo’s iconic crimson red TrackPoint nub, which has been going strong for three decades, is a staple of ThinkPad laptops. However, this year at CES, Lenovo announced that it’s ditching the nub on the ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition laptops. 

It’s a surprising move and although Lenovo’s not removing the nub on every single laptop at this time, who knows what the future holds. It’s entirely possible Lenovo may completely phase out the TrackPoint nub in the next couple of years. So, as a way to celebrate the nub, let’s dive into its long and sometimes complicated history.

Further reading: Lenovo’s newest ThinkBook laptop ‘unrolls’ for extra screen space

The TrackPoint served as an alternative to the traditional mouse

The TrackPoint burst onto the scene in 1992 with the release of the IBM ThinkPad 700C laptop, which was originally designed as a data entry tablet for hospitals and health care workers. The nub, which sits in the middle of the G, H, and B keys, allows you to move the cursor on your screen without ever having to lift your hands off of the keyboard. Essentially, it’s a joystick that sits in the middle of the keyboard. It works by applying direct pressure with a fingertip — the more pressure you apply, the faster the cursor moves. 

Computer scientist Ted Selker originally developed the pointing-stick technology for IBM, which later became known as the TrackPoint. This was innovative at the time because trackpads weren’t invented yet, so computer users were still relying on traditional mice to navigate the content on their screens. Not only did the pointing stick reduce wrist strain, but it also saves the user “0.75 seconds” (according to a study from Selker), which is the time it takes to shift from the keyboard to the mouse. 

Nowadays, trackpads are the norm on laptops. While TrackPoint technology still exists, there’s a steep learning curve. Personally, I find that I have better control over the cursor with the trackpad than with the TrackPoint nub. That said, there’s a whole Reddit community of true TrackPoint fanatics if you’re looking to find your people.

IBM adds negative inertia to the TrackPoint

The TrackPoint underwent a couple of different revisions under IBM. However, the most notable revisions arrived in the third and fourth iteration of the nub. IBM added negative inertia to the TrackPoint III, which increases accuracy by counteracting the positive inertia with applied force, making it feel less sluggish. The fourth iteration, dubbed the TrackPoint IV, had a press-to-select feature that allowed you to select items on the screen by pressing down on the pointing stick.

These days you can disable the TrackPoint altogether if you prefer to use the trackpad. The TrackPoint is also compatible with other operating systems (including Windows and Linux), and you can adjust the cursor speed and acceleration.

The nub and its various designs

The TrackPoint’s crimson cap went through a series of changes, too. In the above interview with Laptop Retrospective, former IBM designer David Hill explains the evolution of the iconic red cap. The original TrackPoint had a smooth rubber red cap that was dome-like, but it was prone to wear and tear and it had poor traction. The “Cat Tongue” nub, on the other hand, exhibited excellent traction but it was a dirt magnet. It also felt a bit like sandpaper and was uncomfortable to use.

Hill even experimented with a design that resembled a bicycle seat in shape. The idea behind this design was to increase the diameter of the nub, but there were concerns that it would hinder the user’s typing experience. Though the design never came to fruition, it’s still an interesting little tidbit of information. Speaking of interesting tidbits of information, the blood red red cap that we know and love almost didn’t happen!

IBM’s product safety division had a lot of power at the time. In fact, they said the color red was reserved for the emergency button on their mainframe computers, so it couldn’t be used for the TrackPoint. You want to know how ThinkPad designer Richard Sapper got around this? The nub’s red color was altered slightly and called magenta. However, when the first batch of ThinkPad laptops shipped, the engineers made the TrackPoint more crimson in color. Talk about a loophole, yeah?

Lenovo acquired the TrackPoint brand from IBM in 2005

Lenovo purchased IBM’s PC division in 2005 for approximately $1.75 billion, thus acquiring the ThinkPad brand of laptops and the TrackPoint technology that came along with it. This was a big deal at the time because, according to this article from PC Mag, “no Chinese company had acquired a major U.S. company” up until that point. It turns out that Lenovo’s acquisition was pretty damn lucrative. As of October 2022, Lenovo has sold over 200 million ThinkPads.

IBM sold its PC division to shift focus from hardware to software. The company was also up against some pretty stiff competition and profits from the PC division were declining; selling off the PC division helped improve its financial situation.

Lenovo removed the TrackPoint nub from the ThinkPad 11e in 2014

Lenovo removed the TrackPoint from the (now discontinued) ThinkPad 11e back in 2014, which was a surprising move from the company. However, the reasoning was perfectly sound (at least in my eyes!). The ThinkPad 11e was designed for the education market, so the company didn’t want to risk including the TrackPoint nub because it posed a potential choking hazard for younger PC users.

Of course, die-hard fans weren’t happy about the missing TrackPoint on the ThinkPad 11e, but the thing that really pissed them off was the removal of the left and right mouse buttons at the top of the touchpad on the X1 Carbon model. This design choice caused a rebellion so great that Lenovo quickly changed course and permanently brought back the left and right mouse buttons on the second generation of the X1 Carbon. Wild, right?

The takeaway nobody asked for

The TrackPoint is something of a legacy item, a beloved relic of the past. While it was innovative at the time, I’m not sure it’ll survive the rising tide of modern laptop technology and design. Though long-time fans will likely raise their pitchforks and torches at Lenovo’s TrackPoint-less Aura Edition laptops, I can’t help but wonder… is this a glimpse into what’s to come? Will Lenovo finally ditch the TrackPoint nub for good? It’s likely. Very likely.