IBM CORPORATION: March 16th 1999

Liliana and Emil Schmid have spent the last fourteen years travelling the world and the couple have been rewarded for their efforts with a series of mentions in the 1998 Guinness Book of Records. Now as the globe-trotting Swiss couple approach another significant milestone – the 500,000 kilometer mark on the vehicle that has taken them around the world – they are rewarded with another record-breaker - an award-winning IBM ThinkPad computer.

The ThinkPad 390 is being presented to the couple at IBM’s annual Middle East Business Partner event which is taking place from 16th to the 18th March in Dubai. Thierry Louesse, General Manager, IBM PSG Middle East will present the notebook to the couple who will use it to update their web site (www.weltrekordreise.ch) on a much more regular basis than previously, to keep track of the many statistics that are generated on the trip as well as to keep diary entries up to date. The notebook that will be presented to the Schmids is a ThinkPad 390 which has a Pentium II, 266 Mhz, 64MB RAM, 4.3 Gb hard disc, 14.1” TFT screen, 24x CD-ROM and comes pre-loaded with Windows 98.

“The new IBM ThinkPad is an invaluable addition to our equipment as our journey continues,” says Emil Schmid. “We will now be able to enter images directly onto the computer from a digital camera, write text and transmit directly via satellite to the people making up our web site in Switzerland.

“Previously we had to scan and transmit via land-line based e-mail which was frustrating in that we would often have to divert our trips to a city to access such facilities. Now we will be able to enjoy more time in more remote areas. We will also be able to update the web site every two or three days rather than every three to four weeks as is now the case. My wife Liliana will also be able to write her diary entries directly via the ThinkPad rather than by hand as she does at present and I will be able to update the statistics.”

While the trip itself stands at just over 488,000 kilometers the Schmids preparations for the trip notched up a further 12,000 km in the year and a half prior to their departure in 1984. The Schmids are currently visiting Dubai during their world-record breaking tour of the globe which has seen them entered in the 1998 Guinness Book of Records as the longest journey, most kilometers travelled and most countries in a single car.