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Post-It Notes - 25 Years of Hypertext in Paper
RexDart writes "A Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine, The Rake, has a fascinating article revealing the history and development of the humble, ubiquitous Post-It Note. An intriguing tale of a dedicated visionary working the system to bring an innovative product to life in a monolithic, tradition-bound organization." From the article: "Two and a half decades later, as the little yellow notes celebrate their silver anniversary, it's easy to forget what a recent innovation they are. Thanks to their material simplicity, they seem more closely related to workplace antiquities like the stapler and the hole-punch than integrated chips. Instead, they're an exemplary product of their time. Foreshadowing the web, they offered an easy way to link one piece of information to another in a precisely contextual way. Foreshadowing email, they made informal, asynchronous communication with your co-workers a major part of modern office life."
What was the First Post(it)??!?
Its amazing what somebody saw in something no one else saw a use for.
p
the saying 'someone's junk is another's treasure' comes to mind.
http://www.snopes.com/business/origins/post-it.as
http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
...the world's first Post-It Note is being auctioned on eBay. It comes complete with certificate of authenticity, written directly on the Post-It itself.......uh.......oops.
Seriously! Minnesota's greatest invention prefigured email, hypertext, and the digital revolution.
No, it didn't. E-mail and hypertext preceded the PostIt note by a decade or two.
I've also seen some creative use for these notes that probably were not part of the original ideas either :-)
see a Text Widget
I grew up in a 3M town and had family that worked for them. I was 10 or 11 when they came out and I remember the big deal made about them. There was a 3M exec who worked with the Junior Achievement groups and I would always be hoping and praying that he would bring some Post-It notes in to school so I could get a pad.
It is interesting to note the products of unintended consequences. Just a few: Post-Its, Microwave Ovens, and Vasoline.Having done so much with so little for so long, I now can do anything with nothing at all.
I which they'd come up with full page size Post-Its with full adhesive backing with a removable liner. That way you could print off CAD drawings and use them as guide templates for drilling and cutting out parts. Sort of a poor man's CAM tool. Think of surfaces like plexiglass where you can't mark on it directly since it would ruin the finish.
Despite common belief, e-mail actually pre-dates the Internet; in fact, existing e-mail systems were a crucial tool in creating the Internet.
Email originated before I was born, and I'm old enough to remember the introduction of the Post-It.
Where's the Kaboom?
There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
You realise that before post-it notes, people would simply use a sheet of paper and some duct tape or a bloody paper-clip? (the non virtual, non annoying kind). The brilliant idea of post-it notes was to have pre-cut, pre-glued paper notes. Claiming that post-it notes are ancestors of hyper-links is like saying that the red pen used by teachers is the ancestor of versioning systems...
If it wasn't for the Post-it-note, how on EARTH would users remember their passwords! Got to be the best invention ever for Windows users in businesses everywhere!
They are bitch to remove from inside the floppy drives.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Amongst other things I provide consultancy for help desks and call centres (migration, training, expansion, logistics, workflow etc.)
On that kind of environment I strongly recommend AGAINST using sticky notes because they are apt to get lost, fall down the back of desks, under keyboards etc. and they do not stick well to fabric partitions, plus, when you see a desk/wall/monitor plastered with dozens of 'please call' or 'urgent' notes not only does it look extremely messy but it also devalues the urgency of the notes and looks unprofessional - it's a bit like if you received all incoming emails flagged urgent.
If a call centre or help desk cannot send electronic notes, I recommend a clipboard for each employee hooked by their desk in a specific location upon which A5-sized pre-printed notes can be left - because each note is arranged in the same way with regards to from/date/subject/priority etc, it is easier than wading through tons of stickies all written in a diferent way and placed on your keyboard, monitor, chair back, or whereever the person chose to leave it. Some advocate sticking notes on the monitor, but if someone comes back to their desk and needs to check something out on their computer they just peel off the pile and put it 'somewhere' to deal with later and they can get lost, forgotten or ignored.
This may all sound a bit over the top bit it just takes one note from a very important customer to go astray and you can appreciate the need for organisation and consistency - I'm not a control freak but sticky notes are not always the best way to do things in some environments.
AT&ROFLMAO
Just jot it down and stick it on your monitor.
If you are really security minded, you can simply stick it under the keyboard.
"Kittens give Morbo gas!"
Romy and Michelle invented Post Its
I hate you, Post-it Notes. I hate the person who invented you. And most of all, I hate my uptight, neurotic and textbook case of passive behavior ex-roommate who communicated exclusively through you.