Porcelain whiteboards are, in my opinion, far superior to chalk. Color, distinct lines, easy to clean with just water (completely with no marks). Those who complain about whiteboards usually are only familiar with melamine boards.
I got a big porcelain board for 5 bucks on eBay because one corner was dented. Best purchase of my life.
There are huge quality differences in both whiteboards and blackboards.
It's not a lack of familiarity with melamine boards, it's acute familiarity with incompetent penny-pinching marker supplies. Most public whiteboard lectures involve the search for markers that aren't dry; the organizer might as well be standing there in their whitey-tighties.
Of course, Universities rarely provide Hagoromo chalk, and those of us reading this would also be bringing our own markers to any whiteboard lecture. So if faced with whiteboard conversion, we should speak up for melamine.
Still, I imagine that in five hundred years there will still be Steinway grand pianos, and some people will still prefer sex in person, and some people will prefer using actual blackboards. A whiteboard reminds me of that humiliating scene in "La La Land" where Ryan Gosling plays a solo one-handed on a toy electric piano.
> I got a big porcelain board for 5 bucks on eBay because one corner was dented. Best purchase of my life.
In case you or others aren't aware:
Bathroom tile backer board is commonly sold at big-box home improvement centers for a very low price per 4x8 foot sheet of material. It's the exact same stuff as commonly sold whiteboards, just without the aluminum edging and large price.
I've worked at a couple of employers who had open-plan style work areas, with the walls lined with such boards. Everyone had a set of white-board markers and a rag or eraser, and maybe some windex.
It's a cheap and practical solution for brainstorming and other uses software engineers often find themselves involved in.
The problem I have with whiteboards, and especially porcelain ones, is that they are too slippery. Writing on a chalkboard offers a certain amount of resistance and texture that just feels better than on a whiteboard. This is also something that you really need a high-quality board to experience. The texture of cheap chalkboards is not very pleasant either.
I have experienced this but only when it’s wet. The tricky thing is that it seems impossible to dry it completely with anything but time. So you do need to wait a good few hours after cleaning with water.
I got a big porcelain board for 5 bucks on eBay because one corner was dented. Best purchase of my life.