I think you're supposed to touch the touchpad in particular ways with your thumb, while using your index finger on the TrackPoint stick.

I wonder what the set intersection is, between people who want TrackPoint sticks, and people who don't want TrackPoint buttons.

ThinkPad industrial design the last several years seems focused on looking thin and sleek -- like an Apple product, only in matte black, with a red accent in the middle of the keyboard -- but some of the human factors changes aren't intuitive to me.