As an entrepreneur and a veteran of three Internet and mobile start-ups, I have a deep appreciation for tools that are inexpensive and that really work well. So, when Jason Harris of Web Worker Daily said that our service at Qipit is worthy of being called “a poor-man’s electronic whiteboard,” among other nice things, I considered it extremely high praise. Qipit is the perfect substitute for an interactive whiteboard, especially if you do not have thousands of dollars in your budget and you want reliability. If you are like me, when I have been in offices with copy boards, they hardly ever work. They are frequently out of paper, printer ink, or have some myriad of other technical difficulties.

As the quality of camera phones continue to improve, anyone who has one will be carrying their own electronic whiteboard, copier, fax and scanner with them wherever they go. From the campus to the executive suite, the Qipit service is useful, reliable and free. We are excited for everyone to learn about our service and to think of Qipit anytime they want to make a copy or share information on the go or in the office.

Earlier this year, when Gina Trapani at Lifehacker included Qipit as a Top 10 Underhyped Web App she wrote that Qipit “ain’t the prettiest webapp you’ll ever see, but it does a great job of capturing meaning from low-res images of text.” That was music to my ears. We want to make your life easier and more efficient, not win beauty contests. And we want to be affordable and reliable, not flashy.

As the 2007-08 academic year ends, I am still pondering how we can get Qipit in front of more students and educators - key examples of people on really tight budgets, who have a need for our service. We see a lot of activity from the education sector but not nearly as much as I would like. If you have any ideas on how to get higher awareness on campuses, I would really appreciate your input, ideas and comments.

~ Conrad