> Lenovo has taken the Thinkpad line down the toilet

I think you're overstating things tremendously here. ThinkPad is alive, and from the reviews I've seen, doing well. http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/28/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon.... Many buyouts end with entire products being canned.

I still have an IBM ThinkPad. They were good quality back then, but I really think the standard-bearer today is MacBook.

I don't think madengr is saying that the thinkpad line is not successful. Rather, I bet he means that the modern thinkpads do not fit in with the "thinkpad spirit".

New thinkpads are just like every other manufacturer's laptops, even the X line.