Filling the Void of a Physical Whiteboard

Love the code rabbit hole, but alternatively you can just use an online whiteboard that doesn't try to be too clever, such as https://awwapp.com/

I bought a 43" 4K monitor a year ago. I was thinking about buying a whiteboard when I it occurred to me I was sitting in front of a large flat board all day. I took a screenshot, opened up Paint, filled it with a pleasing solid color, made some notes in Paint on it. Drew some boxes and bubbles and a few connecting lines, and made it my desktop background. I keep the screen open in paint so I can easily drag things around and save it again as my desktop background. Every few days I save the current screen in a folder, date it and start a new one, so I have a record of my thoughts. It's so simple that I not only do I actively use it, I enjoy using it and it's been amazingly helpful for organizing my thoughts and staying on track. I'm already looking at it all day. I paste some art on it to beautify it up.

Edit: I found out later conservative historian Niall Ferguson does this with PowerPoint. I tried PP. I like my system better because there's no structure to it. Good for brainstorming.

It's called a sketchpad. You can scan your works if you must share them. So much easier because you've got better control over your hand than with it high up for the white board. Unless you're an artist used to working with easels, I guess.

Good luck to anyone who wants to try to replace the whiteboard with any kind of screen technology.

For me, nothing is even remotely close to be able to replace whiteboard, brown paper and marker pens. I'm not saying that the void doesn't exist, it's just that the void currently is too big and all solutions are nowhere near filling the void.

With a whiteboard my experience is that everyone can pick up a pen and start contributing immediately.

Some times, to be able to discuss your problem space you need to remove all distractions.

I have had countless amazing meetings where we leave technology at the desk and sit down in a meeting room with a huge whiteboard and map everything out.

Heck, I even asked for a whiteboard to be installed in my office just to draw things out whenever I need to explain something.

It is even good for personal stuff. It's there until I wipe it away and always instantly accessible.

Miro.com what everyone is gravitating towards. It is amazing. Sooo good.