Postit Note Dominance

today

i am going to talk to you about

something you will have

all heard of something most of you will

have used before

and that many of you may even use on a

daily basis

can you guess what i’m referring to

let me give you a hint they usually come

in packs of 100 generally are

square-shaped

and most importantly they’re known

and recognized for their neon colors

if you thought of post-it notes

congratulations

you would be right indeed today i’m

going to tell you the story

of how post-it notes accidentally came

to be

when the post-it was released in 1980

its inventor was so confident in its

triumph

he claimed it spread and i quote

like a virus we all know

unfortunately how fast and unrelenting

that truly is

but rather than leave in its wake a

trail of fear

and of anguish post-it notes brightened

up our world

both literally and metaphorically

typically when the topic of accidental

and yet brilliant inventions is brought

about

post-it notes aren’t exactly what come

to mind

what many people don’t realize however

is that the humble post-it note has

indirectly changed the lives of many

with millions of us around the world

subconsciously relying on those genius

colorful little squares

for countless mundane things

now here’s a question for you

how many post-its do you think are sold

each year

would you say it’s 1 million or 100

million maybe

or what about 10 billion

all of these guesses are wrong in fact

there are 50 billion post-it notes

sold and produced annually and to help

you visualize that

if you were given a post-it note every

single second of your existence

from the moment you were born it would

only

take you 1585 years to get to 50 billion

but what if i were to tell you this all

came about

due to a simple mistake or a failed

experiment if you will although i doubt

that failed

is the right word to use here our story

begins

in 1968 with dr spencer silva

who has a name reminiscent of that of a

james bond villain

dr silva who was not in fact a villain

from james bond

but rather a simple chemist employed by

the company 3m was in the process of

inventing

a strong adhesive ironically however

silver’s super strong substance was not

effective

at all but instead rather low tack

and it could easily be be stuck to and

removed from surfaces

numerous times without damage remind you

of anything

at the time this was considered a

mistake

and a failure and it was left to be

forgotten

which it was for the entirety of six

years

a co-worker of silver’s arthur fry a

devout christian

who dedicated much of his time to his

church and its choir

was the one to be struck with the idea

of the universally appreciated post-it

note

nothing in this world would anger fry

more than the paper bookmarks and his

hymnbook

which would constantly fall out and have

to be replaced offensively frequently

it was his irritation that provoked his

idea

and having remembered silva’s failed

experiment he knew just what needed to

be done

to bring his vision of the post-it note

to life

over the next six years the team

developing the post-it

only discovered more and more uses for

the accidental invention

what was initially supposed to be a

bookmark was becoming this broadly

useful item

which could be adapted to its purchases

needs

from planning and brainstorming to

revision to shopping lists to

according to every history teacher’s

favorite website

wikipedia cleaning your keyboard

post-it notes have an endless array of

uses

even going as far as being used as

symbols of protest

as was seen not long ago in hong kong

anyone no matter their lifestyle or

occupation

has a use for post-it notes and it was

this

as well as the collective curiosity

surrounding the product

that initiated its success but

their infinite uses aren’t the only

incredible thing that have come from

post-it notes

they have been a pioneer in the way of

remembering

promoting inventions that would have

surely not existed otherwise

and inspiring ideas that have allowed

forms of note-taking tools to evolve

yet the traditional post-it note is

losing its influence

this is 2021 an

age of artificial intelligence of

technology

a time where we can give speeches over

the internet

we’re living in a world where almost

everything we do

is online more so than ever before

especially due to the pandemic

it’s natural of course that as

technology advances we adapt with it

but we’re seemingly unable to leave

post-it notes in the past

hence the introduction of virtual sticky

notes

although many may argue that the concept

of post-its is diminished by this

they have proven to be powerful

electronic reminders

and have boosted people’s productivity

during lockdown

it amazes me still to this day that the

post-it note was born from a mistake

and that in a world in which errors do

not occur

they could not exist let this serve

to remind us that mistakes can be as

wonderful

as they can be terrible and that we must

stop

seeing them as mistakes as barriers

but rather as potential the post-it note

is a major example of this but i wonder

what mistakes no matter how little or

big

have changed the course of your life for

the better