It's a hard metaphor to pull off. Cut my some slack :)
The real point I'm trying to make is just if you want to test somebody's ability to write code, give them a computer, don't make them code on a whiteboard.
If you're actually using a whiteboard to assist in visualizing something or to help explain a problem, great! But that's quite different from being asked to write down code.
Last interview before my current position, the group of simultaneous interviewers did the usual "on this whiteboard, write a program to do X." I waved off the pen, pulled out my notebook computer, started typing, and said "don't mind me, just continue on" and wrote the program while fielding other questions, and asking for clarifications on requirements. The offer was not long in coming.
Sorry, it just so happens I’m an expert in failing to pull metaphors off :-) I did once pull off a great interview metaphor, but I did so by plagiarizing someone else’s hard work:
The real point I'm trying to make is just if you want to test somebody's ability to write code, give them a computer, don't make them code on a whiteboard.
If you're actually using a whiteboard to assist in visualizing something or to help explain a problem, great! But that's quite different from being asked to write down code.