Oh yeah, they tried removing those in the _40 series (T440, T540, etc) a few generations yet. That went over well! :P
As I frequently mention in this context: You haven't lived until you've seen a highly paid security architect slam their laptop repeatedly in front of the client in frustration :P.
So they put them back in the _50 series and onward :).
Seriously, the generation was reviled and it was a complete rebellion to put them back. And with good reason.
The two "GIANT" (regular sized, but whatever:) physical clicky buttons are there for people who like physical clicky buttons. Which is a large portion of user base using ThinkPads / Lattitude / Elitebooks. These laptops are tools of our trade and we use them at home at work on airplane in coffee shop in the park in the backyard in the bedroom everywhere. We have a fixation for functionality, for positive action and reliable feedback, not design/minimalism.
I have no fantasies that we'll agree, but wanted to provide a perspective to enhance understanding :)
Edit/Update upon thinking: I think indeed there's a market/product for both: people / companies who prefer minimalism (Apple laptops are really the sexiest epitomes of that design aspiration and I'll agree if sleek sexiness is an important criteria, nothing beats them:). And for people / companies who prefer modularity / functionality / expandability / power... I'd love to say that ThinkPads cater to that audience, but in reality they're becoming more like MacBooks - minimalism is clearly winning in the industry, even if there's a backlash in the hardcore but tiny communities :-/
At any rate, it seems we went from "Trackpoint is the single reason against Thinkpad" to "nothing much against trackpoint", which answers my original question I suppose.
