I'm a note-taker.
As I sit in front of the computer, whether I'm playing video games or preparing a blog post, I always have paper and pen ready to take notes. Normally I re-use paper that I've already printed something out on. I just flip it over and use the back as a scratch pad.
But the folks at Xerox have come up with an even better solution. Paper that erases itself after 24 hours.
A team of experts from the same company that gave us the laser printer and the computer mouse is making another major change to the workplace with reusable paper which erases itself after 24 hours so it can be used again. The sheets are coated with special chemicals which turn white on their own or by being run through a special printer, meaning text will disappear and allow the paper to be used again.
Designers at Xerox believe that their reusable paper could save the world's offices at least seven trillion pages a year which would otherwise be printed once and then thrown away. There is one drawback: it is not capable of erasing pen doodles or unfolding paper aeroplanes.
Ok, so it would be cool if it could erase pen markings but it can't, so in one sense there's a little bit of a drawback for hand-writers like me. It's also going to suck for the idiot who writes disparaging remarks about his coworkers or boss thinking it'll disappear by morning. On the other hand, though, I can easily see how something like this can reduce wasted paper in an office environment.
There is a downside to this, however. Politicians might actually be telling the truth when they say documents have suddenly just disappeared.
