5 ms·

It seems the preference is shifting towards dry-erase boards.

minikites 11y ago
It depends on who you talk to, I've seen renovated university study spaces with fresh chalkboards. When I asked the staff why they chose chalkboards instead of whiteboards, they said that it's cheaper in the long run because cleaning and replacing whiteboards is awful and expensive. Chalkboards are significantly more durable.
- wlesieutre 11y ago
  Not to mention I've never had a piece of chalk dry out. Seems whenever I try to use a whiteboard, the first 5 markers I try don't write and I have to spend 15 minutes hunting for spares. And if you have a "sort of working" marker, which is what I'd usually end up with, it won't write very dark and the whiteboard text has worse contrast than a chalkboard.
  - ansible 11y ago
    What drives me up a wall is when people find a non-working marker... and then put it back! No! Throw it away! It is better to have no markers than have non-working ones. That is an easy and clear signal that it is time to find / buy more markers.
    - gcb0 11y ago
      can't you just drip alcohol into the dry ones to get them back to working condition?
      - foobarian 11y ago
        That's why I don't throw them away--never know if there is a coworker who collects the dry ones and restores them. <s>
      - CydeWeys 11y ago
        Not indefinitely, no.
    - mcphage 11y ago
      > when people find a non-working marker... and then put it back! No! Throw it away! I trained myself to, whenever I found a non-working whiteboard marker, literally throw it into a back corner to pick up later. Similarly, when I take off a sock with holes, I tear the hole a lot bigger so I don't feel tempted to keep it in use.
      - lsaferite 11y ago
        Hah, my wife looks at me funny when I suddenly rip apart a sock or pair of underwear. :O
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
Which themselves are being, albeit slowly, replaced by mobile technology, surface-type screens, computers attached to projectors, etc. I imagine the market for chalk are all die-hards, like say, vinyl record enthusiasts today. If you were to use internet outrage as your own metric you'd think it was a huge market. Its not. Chalk is two generations behind at this point. Its probably not too great to be breathing in all day either, at least for some of the population: The study, published in the journal Indoor and Built Environment, ruefully concludes: "Though real-time airborne chalk dust generation was found to be low in this study … and did not contain toxic materials, chalk dust could be harmful to allergic persons and may cause lacrimation and breathing troubles in the long run and certainly is a constant nuisance in classrooms as it may soil clothes, body parts, audiovisual aids and study materials." http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/28/chalk-dust-health-research http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/28/chalk-dust-...
- ams6110 11y ago
  surface-type screens, computers attached to projectors, etc These have their place, certainly, but I'd find it hard to believe that power-consuming electronic replacements (also considering the environmental impact from raw materials and waste products, and energy used to manufacture them) are a "better" choice than a chalkboard in many cases.
  - drzaiusapelord 11y ago
    Power is also required to mine chalk (giant limestone mines), process it, package it, ship it, etc and its completely non-renewable. It becomes dust and then you place another order. A PC with a projector can last a decade in use and depending on the region may be powered by mostly or all renewables.
    - HCIdivision17 11y ago
      One of the interesting notes in the article is that they apparently use a lot of oyster shells. I would assume the shells are typically a waste product in other (likely food) industry processes. That's pretty darn green. Besides, we have a lot of limestone, veritable rock-oceans of it. That's part of why it's incredibly difficult to talk about waste on industrial scales. One plant's garbage is frequently another's input. Waste is expensive, so plants will always try to reduce it to the bare minimums, and if possible make money off it, in the case of certainl classes of recyclables.
phkahler 11y ago
>> It seems the preference is shifting towards dry-erase boards. I'm not letting my daughter write on the driveway with markers ;-)
- cpwright 11y ago
  But the quality of chalk for your driveway doesn't need to be that high; and there big and lots of colors probably matters most.

It depends on who you talk to, I've seen renovated university study spaces with fresh chalkboards. When I asked the staff why they chose chalkboards instead of whiteboards, they said that it's cheaper in the long run because cleaning and replacing whiteboards is awful and expensive. Chalkboards are significantly more durable.

wlesieutre 11y ago
Not to mention I've never had a piece of chalk dry out. Seems whenever I try to use a whiteboard, the first 5 markers I try don't write and I have to spend 15 minutes hunting for spares. And if you have a "sort of working" marker, which is what I'd usually end up with, it won't write very dark and the whiteboard text has worse contrast than a chalkboard.
- ansible 11y ago
  What drives me up a wall is when people find a non-working marker... and then put it back! No! Throw it away! It is better to have no markers than have non-working ones. That is an easy and clear signal that it is time to find / buy more markers.
  - gcb0 11y ago
    can't you just drip alcohol into the dry ones to get them back to working condition?
    - foobarian 11y ago
      That's why I don't throw them away--never know if there is a coworker who collects the dry ones and restores them. <s>
    - CydeWeys 11y ago
      Not indefinitely, no.
  - mcphage 11y ago
    > when people find a non-working marker... and then put it back! No! Throw it away! I trained myself to, whenever I found a non-working whiteboard marker, literally throw it into a back corner to pick up later. Similarly, when I take off a sock with holes, I tear the hole a lot bigger so I don't feel tempted to keep it in use.
    - lsaferite 11y ago
      Hah, my wife looks at me funny when I suddenly rip apart a sock or pair of underwear. :O

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

Which themselves are being, albeit slowly, replaced by mobile technology, surface-type screens, computers attached to projectors, etc. I imagine the market for chalk are all die-hards, like say, vinyl record enthusiasts today. If you were to use internet outrage as your own metric you'd think it was a huge market. Its not. Chalk is two generations behind at this point. Its probably not too great to be breathing in all day either, at least for some of the population: The study, published in the journal Indoor and Built Environment, ruefully concludes: "Though real-time airborne chalk dust generation was found to be low in this study … and did not contain toxic materials, chalk dust could be harmful to allergic persons and may cause lacrimation and breathing troubles in the long run and certainly is a constant nuisance in classrooms as it may soil clothes, body parts, audiovisual aids and study materials." http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/28/chalk-dust-health-research http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/28/chalk-dust-...

ams6110 11y ago
surface-type screens, computers attached to projectors, etc These have their place, certainly, but I'd find it hard to believe that power-consuming electronic replacements (also considering the environmental impact from raw materials and waste products, and energy used to manufacture them) are a "better" choice than a chalkboard in many cases.
- drzaiusapelord 11y ago
  Power is also required to mine chalk (giant limestone mines), process it, package it, ship it, etc and its completely non-renewable. It becomes dust and then you place another order. A PC with a projector can last a decade in use and depending on the region may be powered by mostly or all renewables.
  - HCIdivision17 11y ago
    One of the interesting notes in the article is that they apparently use a lot of oyster shells. I would assume the shells are typically a waste product in other (likely food) industry processes. That's pretty darn green. Besides, we have a lot of limestone, veritable rock-oceans of it. That's part of why it's incredibly difficult to talk about waste on industrial scales. One plant's garbage is frequently another's input. Waste is expensive, so plants will always try to reduce it to the bare minimums, and if possible make money off it, in the case of certainl classes of recyclables.

phkahler 11y ago

>> It seems the preference is shifting towards dry-erase boards. I'm not letting my daughter write on the driveway with markers ;-)

cpwright 11y ago
But the quality of chalk for your driveway doesn't need to be that high; and there big and lots of colors probably matters most.