Writing on the Betabook with a standard dry erase marker. The matte finish makes it perfect for photographing and storing images; it’s the Betabook’s API (Actual Physical Interface)
After posting information about the Kickstarter campaign for Betabook, a single whiteboard in a book format that comes in two sizes, I had the opportunity to interview two of the project’s developers, Jay Cousins and Gabriel Shalom.
Jay Cousins (@jaycousins) invented the Betabook portable whiteboard in 2012. Since then Patrizia Kommerell (@pkommerell) and Gabriel Shalom (@gabrielshalom) of KS12 (@ks12) have worked together with Jay to design and produce the Betabook. The company Betabook LLC (@betabookco) will manage the manufacturing and distribution process.
I first met Gabriel with a prototype of the Beatabook last summer, so I have been watching the progress of this project for months. Here’s my conversation with Jay (in the UK) and Gabriel (in Berlin), in a Google Hangout. (IN THE FIRST PART OF THE INTERVIEW, JAY’S VIDEO IS BLACK, please stick with it as it clears up as we go along)
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Towards the end of the conversation, Gabriel mentioned Jay’s concept of the Betabook’s API: it’s an “Actual Physical Interface”, where anything written or drawn on the whiteboard surface of the Betabook can be photographed with a phone’s camera or anything else, and then dropped into all kinds of documents, digital storage, or notetaking software. There’s still plenty of life left in personal analog devices!
The Kickstarter campaign is within days of closing, so if you are interested in getting your Betabook early, as they have surpassed the funds they need to go into full production, I suggest you sign up now.
