ThinkPad its 1992 launch to keep the Harvard Business School happy. In April 1992, IBM announced the first ThinkPad tablet computer at a news conference. The first ThinkPad tablet, a PenPoint-based device formally known as the IBM 2521 ThinkPad, was positioned as a developer's release. The ThinkPad tablet became available for purchase by the general public in October of the same year. In addition to giving it an innovative name, IBM marketed the ThinkPad through imaginative activities such as early customer pilot programs, numerous pre-launch announcements, and an extensive loaner program designed to showcase the product's strengths and weaknesses. IBM even
ThinkPad Tablet Lenovo said he believed the ThinkPad Tablet to be "the weapon of choice for business success". In his article on the development of the Tablet, he indicated that every design detail was subjected to multiple design reviews, including basic elements such as the placement of the logo. A challenge was indicated to be designing and integrating a digitizer pen into the Tablet, which already had a "crowded interior". This required a study of pen barrel diameter and the balancing of batteries, digitizer technology components, ergonomics, and storage space constraints for the pen itself. Additionally, dowel rods were used for diameter