Random fact, there's actually a bit of a story behind the trackpoint being red.
As I was told by a guy at IBM, and I haven't been able to confirm this elsewhere, is that at the time the Thinkpad was originally conceived, IBM design guidelines mandated that the only red elements on a piece of hardware should be the power switches. However, the team behind the Thinkpad design though (rightly) that a red trackpoint would look awesome on the black keys. Their solution? They put it down as 'magenta' on the specs to get it approved.
And while on the subject of Thinkpad lore, the name comes from notepads that were distributed to IBM employees with the word 'THINK' emblazoned on the cover (http://davetroy.com/posts/think-then-and-now)
Oh, in IBM history "Think" was much bigger than just notepads. "Think" was a command from venerated IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, and in the Olden Days IBM used to put that slogan on wall signs (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_%28IBM%29) that were hung EVERYWHERE.
In a restroom at IBM’s Watson Center, a supervisor had placed a sign above the sink. It had a single word on it—‘THINK!’ The next day, when he went to the restroom, right below the sign, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign that read— ‘THOAP!’
They also made desktoppers with the slogan for executives, and the story goes that you could tell how high up in the legendary IBM bureaucracy an IBMer was by how big and ornate his THINK sign was -- junior execs got tiny signs made of plastic, senior ones got big ones made of fancy woods and metals.
For a time Dells came with them. I have a Fujitsu that has a stick. Then suddenly they stopped making them. I think the patent is available to license, companies have chosen not to license it for whatever reason. It's not like there aren't patents associated with touchpads.
Both HP and Dell's current pro lines have a nub on their keyboards; and Unicomp (fka Lexmark/IBM keyboard division) sells a Model M variant with one as well. Apparently Unicomp is claiming to own the patent as well[0]
