It's kind of funny to see HNers talking about the failings of this desk, and gradually re-designing it - make it smaller, make the top sheet removable to remove coffee stains, etc -until they end up with something that already exists.<p>These are called "Desk Pads" or "Desk Mats". <a href="http://www.staples.co.uk/calendar-desk-mat-refill/cbs/413046.html?promoCode=200200555&Effort_Code=WW&Find_Number=413046" rel="nofollow">http://www.staples.co.uk/calendar-desk-mat-refill/cbs/413046...</a><p>You don't buy them. Your supplier buys them and has them branded and sends them to you with a bunch of calendars and wall charts.<p>EDIT: I do love the desk though. I'd use the hell out of it. I like the scrolling aspect even though that'd make things harder to find. I'm gently worried about the strength of butcher's paper. there was a link on HN the other day about how people used to use rolls instead of books, and was talking about cookery scrolls. I thought then of a miniature version of this desk for cookery books. With a wipeclean glass top it could be used in the kitchen without gloop messing up your favourite book.
The cognitive overhead of sketching a diagram or jotting a todo is hard to beat.<p>I'd love to have a setup like this. I would probably let small objects pile up on its surface though, which would make it hard to turn.
I'm not sure that remembering a whole lot of coffee stains is worth tipping my monitor onto the floor everyday, but hey, I'll give it a whirl.
My setup is a bit similiar, except that I don't use paper. I just write or draw directly on my desk with a pencil. Most of my notes are only needed for a few minutes and they can be easily erased without any tools.
Looks good, but if it's the desk I'd use daily it needs more legroom, more storage, and I'd put so much stuff on top that it'd become impractical to rotate it.
Looks lovely. Could be used in art galleries for comments & doodles about the exhibits (then unrolled to make an exhibit itself).<p>I have been thinking about the inverse idea: a small desk with a plain pine plank top with a sheet of acrylic over that. A large piece of paper between the two with schedule/calendar/mind map for a several month project written on it. Papers archived after project completed. Important changes noted by lifting the acrylic.
A really nice project, I might build one for my daughter.<p>I used to have something similar when I studied Architecture: my drawing table was always covered with thick yellow paper kept in place with painter's tape, on which I jotted down notes and sketches. This is much more practical, as you don't have to cut a new sheet of paper when the old one is too dirty/full.
Certainly interesting and, personally, I find it nice as well.<p>Wouldn't work for me I guess but maybe a smaller version would do?<p>I have also considered a strictly personal blog. It would need to be thoroughly searchable and did I mention personal.<p>I came across this idea a few years ago when I worked on a solution for someone with amnesia.
I would use the fuck out of something like this. In fact, I might build it into the desk I want to build one day when I have my own place. Maybe not the whole desk, because as others have pointed out I'd like to have some room to store things.
I think this would be super-interesting to have and use in practice - you'd probably end up with a kind of stream-of-conscious scroll of your daily activities!
That'd just have coffee rings and skid marks from that odd black shit that comes off the bottom of mice all over it.<p>Cone to think of it if you spilled something, game over.
I use a pad of paper. I have lots of pads of paper. None of them did I have to purchase. They were given to me at work or elsewhere for free. So refills are free, too. Without cranking.<p>And I get to use my favorite desk. I can clutter it up if I want.