I grew up with dusty chalkboards in the 1950’s and 1960’s. My first memory of using a whiteboard was early in 1970 at an interview. I was handed a pen and asked to work through a problem on the board. I felt comfortable with this experience, and passed the interview.
Throughout my job life, I’ve sat and stood in conference rooms solving problems. Often one team member at a time would have control of a pen and the whiteboard, while the rest of us challenged the pen-holder. Occasionally one of us would get up from the table, and the pen-holder would hand over the pen. I miss those sessions more than anything else in my job life. A group of engineers, aggressively and honestly trying to define and solve a problem is hard to beat.
In more recent times, whiteboards have become electronic, allowing scribbles to be shared with computers around the world. Whether a board was electronic, or not, I generally used a smartphone camera to capture our deliberations.
Although I’m unconstrained by work, whiteboards continue to play a part in my life.
Today, in a world of Covid-19, a whiteboard in our “skully” (scullery) has become a stabilizing influence in our household. It provides a mechanism to collaboratively plan out meals based on our inventory of fresh produce. The days of popping out to the market for one or two items are on hold.
It reminds us which day it is, and what we decided the next meal will be. It gives our lives some structure in a time of stay-at-home orders.
Our board is not electronic, but it does help conceal electronics, and it can be viewed via a Webcam. The board, itself, is pretty much the same setup I used back in 1970.
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