The Copyboard

Many of us have grown up with the trusty whiteboard making an impact at various stages of our lives. A little dramatic you may say, however I remember going to secondary school and being introduced to the white board for the first time. Primary school was full of blackboards, chalk, the inevitable chalk dust and the naughty child who liked to stamp you on the back with the board cleaner. Then when secondary school came, the white board made everything seem so grown up and sophisticated. The bright white board invited me to learn - well, more play than learn. The rainbow of colours that where available on a white board - colours that didn't have a dust grey hue to them - were so exciting.

Extending consideration beyond the classroom, the whiteboard has become an office staple. No meeting room or brainstorming session would be complete without someone frantically scribing away at the white board to jot down all of the ideas. This job is far from enviable to the majority of us, firstly there will always be someone complaining that the handwriting is too small to be seen from the back of the room. Then there is the spelling battle- where you risk displaying to your whole office that you regularly rely on spell check to verify your work. There are however people who love the responsibility of writing on the white board, it makes them feel powerful - but who are we to mock. Bless those souls, we all need them. Without these enthusiasts, there would be no volunteers for anything which would leave us all prime for the picking and potential subsequent embarrassment.

Once the meeting is over however, some poor soul is always left with the painstakingly boring task of writing everything down on a piece of paper before the white board is wiped clean ready to use again. Enter the Copyboard. The copyboard is a white board with a twist, from first glance it looks like a regular white board apart from the addition of feint grey grid marks. 'Useful for drawing diagrams and writing on straight lines' I hear you say. Well that's not all, this clever little invention prints out anything you've written on its surface via a little printer attached to the base of the board. What's more, you can connect the copy board to a pc, allowing the contents of the board to be saved to your hard drive to be emailed and faxed to all who need it. By saving your work to a computer, you can ensure that your hard brainstorming data is never lost due to a plucky employee who decides to 'helpfully' clean the board as soon as you leave the room. The Copyboard is withou! t doubt at the forefront of the technological office supplies revolution.