Sometimes it really is the little things. Not that the Slope by Fluidstance is all that little, being 20 inches long, eight inches wide, and about 3.5 inches tall. What I mean here, I guess, is that sometimes it’s the simple things. Though, in fact, the twist the Slope puts on the traditional whiteboard is actually pretty damn clever.

So let’s try that again: the Fluidstance Slope is an elegant, simply designed yet surprisingly clever and useful by function, product that may just change the way you interact with everything from your desk to your computer to your phone to your notepad. The Slope is nothing more than a whiteboard surface set at a slight angle and with a slot on its back that can accommodate pens, a phone, and other paraphernalia of life. 

Why pay nearly $60 for a sloped, molded desktop whiteboard? OK first, pinch your phone to your ear with one shoulder so you can scrawl a note on a loose sheet of paper, one hand holding the paper in place, the other writing. Pain in the neck much, no? Now hold the phone with one hand and try to scrawl that note on the paper without securing it in place. Now we have a pain in the ass.

And either way, you’re likely going to toss the note out in a matter of minutes, hours, or at most days anyway, so think of the poor trees! And there’s a chance you’ll lose said note before you even need it. With a Slope, you can jot numbers, addresses, or even a good deal of notes down single-handed – and with said hand held at a perfect angle if we’re delving into ergonomics – only to later wipe clean the board and be ready for the next note-taking or idle doodling session.

The Slope was designed to sit between your computer keyboard and monitor (and to slide over a standard keyboard for compact storage or for your writing convenience), but I’ve found it also works fine just to the side of my laptop (in front of the second monitor). I’ve also found it to make a great place to rest a document, book, or magazine when I’m reading rather than writing, while the slot along the back can keep a phone at a perfect angle for viewing the screen or being viewed during a FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom session.

Will life go on if you don’t get a Slope? Yes. Yes it will. But were you to use one for a year, you’d miss it for life were it taken away again.

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