# Slates

<figure><img src="https://1102328231-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F65JYNEAXD5UEf8eYc7t5%2Fuploads%2FmbEjGNFzXhJpY6XI0yNK%2Fnomoney420_close_up_of_a_portable_clear_slate_display_device_cl_66fa2f0e-2e40-4662-8720-33e2c494c5dc.png?alt=media&#x26;token=46ee6338-fc4d-4ee7-9dbd-86e80a4329c5" alt=""><figcaption><p>A slate on a desk displaying an opaque document</p></figcaption></figure>

## Overview

Slates are portable, personal interfaces featuring large displays. They are often used to connect to [endpoints](https://wiki.codauniverse.com/coda-universe/world/science-and-tech/endpoints) in order to control various systems. The typical slate has an edge-to-edge touch-enabled organic display with a thin form factor. Slates can be translucent or opaque, elegant or robust. They come in a number of form factors.

***

## Types of Slates

### Glass Slates

Translucent displays that can read data sticks and interface with local terminals. They also have some limited on-board LMNL compute. Glass slates are very common in enterprise and institutional environments where information is constantly in flux, and secured through private endpoints.

### Paper Slates

These paper-thin displays (colloquially referred to simply as "paper") are one of the most common varieties of slate. The ‘paper’ material is not really paper, but a highly resilient [hard-code](https://wiki.codauniverse.com/coda-universe/world/science-and-tech/hard-code) nanostructure with a paper-like texture.

Paper slates are commonly used for extremely sensitive information, and is particularly useful in the criminal underworld, and more clandestine enterprises. Paper is also commonly used as [a medium of exchange in financial transactions](https://wiki.codauniverse.com/coda-universe/gata/politics/money#paper-money), and for storage backups for critical data.