This is a re-write of existing entry, A416404 by Alaska

Come on...everyone uses them, thinkers and shoppers alike have relied on them, and people everyday use them at least once. they've got as many uses as duct tape, and, heck, you could even write a novel on them! I'm speaking, of course, of the timeless invention of the Post-it Note¹. But, as with many marvelously simple inventions, people have no idea where it comes from, or how much they needed it. This entry plans to end all that...or, at least so that those using a computer know how much their lives have changed because of this creation. Read on, read on...²

The (Brief) History of the Post-it Note

Creation of an Invention

A great idea is sometimes defined as something you can write on a Post-it note - but what if the idea IS the Post-it Note?

Spencer Silver was a scientist who worked for a glue company called 3M³. In 1970, Mr Silver made an adhesive. The glue, on a molecular level of course, formed into tiny spheres, with a diameter of paper fiber⁴. The spheres were durable, didn't dissolve, and didn't melt. Sticky by themselves, they just weren't all that strong in a group. Spencer couldn't seem to find a use for it.

Spencer had a friend named Arthur Fry⁵, who challenged Spencer he could find a use for the weakish glue. Arthur sang in a choir, and used slips of paper to mark his place in songbooks, but these papers were always falling out. So what does he do? He solves two problems at once by applying Silver's weak glue to his slips. Presto! A bookmark that sticks, but comes off without damaging the page - Post-it Notes!

Next time you use a Post-it Note, as you undoubtably will, remember you are holding the creation of two men - Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry.

The Application of the Post-it Note

After that, Spencer's company, which, as you recall, was 3M, caught on and marketed the product. The rest is history. Post-it Notes became available to a needy public. People used them for anything and everything - bookmarks, of course, places to write on, labels, doodlings, anything⁶! If you have just time-traveled, as I'm sure carbon-based humanoids will once do, and are wondering how to use the sticky piece of paper;

1. Write, doodle, or don't do anything on the non-sticky side of the pad.
2. Tear off this sheet you have just written on., working from a left or right angle, depending on your hands/tentacle/feelers.
3. Apply sticky side of note to desired surface.
4. Please Note: When affixing a Post-it note, be mindful to stick it on a solid, smooth surface, rather than an uneven, lumpy or dusty area. Post-it Notes can be removed from one surface and reapplied to another a finite number of times until the inherent stickiness of the note subsides. You can normally re-stick a Post-it note up to ten times. A particularly savvy Post-it note user can stick and re-stick the same Post-it up to 20 times or more, depending on humidity, slickness of the surface, and the degree of gentleness with which the Post-it is handled while en route from one surface to another.⁷

Post-its in the Future

By this time, most offical Post-it Notes you see are flourescent in color, and come in many variations - little, big, super-sticky, thin, funky-shaped, the list goes on!

One of the greatest technilogical triumphs of the twentieth century⁸ has got to be a Mac application called Stickies. What? You've never heard of it??!? Then let me explain; It is the virtual, computer version of the Post-it Note. They're just like the real ones - they show up on your desktop (in a varitiety of colors), and you can move them around, just like the real thing. No pencil needed.

Who know where the greatest invention since sliced bread, the wheel, and language will go in the next century? We can only guess.