Photo-A-Day #4664
I was provided a Blackboard by Kent Displays, makers of Boogie Board eWriters for free to use and review. Opinions are 100% my own.<>To be honest, when I received the Blackboard by Boogie Board I was confused. What would I do with this device. It doesn’t plug in, it is not Internet connected. What am I going to use this for? So, I took it with me to work and played around with it for a while. The Blackboard is an electronic writing tool that feels like you are using pen and paper. It is a natural way to write on Liquid Crystal PaperTM. As I used it more I thought of different ways that I could incorporate it into my own life.
The Blackboard is large. It has an 8.5” x 11” Letter-sized, semi-transparent writing surface that allows writers to electronically write on any document, photo, map, or even digital screens. If I wanted to write on a photo and point out a critique of that photo I could overlay the Blackboard on top of the photo and make sketches and notes right over the photo. If I was collaborating with a friend on a website design I could lay the Blackboard over a digital screen and make my notes. Then by using the Blackboard app on my phone I could capture that screen and share it with my friend. There are many other scenarios like that one where working together on a project would be enhanced with a Blackboard.
The way that I found Blackboard fit seamlessly into my life was at work. I take calls all night long and have to jot down names and notes from the customers who call. I usually capture all that into a notebook and when the notebook is full I toss it in a shredder. That is pretty wasteful. One of the things that my company is trying to do is help people go paperless. So, in an effort to go even more paperless than I have ever done I released the notebook with my Blackboard. The nice thing, too is that I don’t have to shred any sensitive information because with one press of the clear button that information is gone.
I traced my logo and the Blackboard logo through the semi-transparent Blackboard writing surface.
I am a die hard techie and love all sorts of gear and gadgets. My office is littered with plugs and chargers and accessories for all my tech. It is really nice to have everything all in one with the Blackboard, though. No wires, no plugs, ports, chargers or anything. Blackboard doesn’t need to boot up or charge up. It is always ready for me to start writing. All I need is the pen that is included. And that sticks to my Blackboard through the magnet at the bottom of the board. Also, I won’t need to change the battery for another 5 years.
There are many ways in which you can use the Blackboard. It comes with 4 templates that you can slide into the Blackboard. One for lined paper, one for a schedule (7-Day Planner), a blank black page and a page of dots (Grid). I mostly use the blank black page because I scribble all over when I make notes. I suppose that if I used the lines I could try and improve my handwriting which has gotten so terrible in the past years.
You might ask me, “Drew, you have an iPad Pro and an apple pen, why don’t you just use those?” I’ll tell you, I got that over two years ago and in that time I have maybe used the apple pen 3 times. It is never charged and I often forget I have it. With the Blackboard I don’t need to do anything except for pick up the pen and write. That is something I am going to use very often because I don’t have to think about it or prep or plan to use it. I can just use it right in the moment.
You can see more about how the Blackboard works in the video below.