Etch A Sketch Updated

Do you doodle? In public? During lectures? In bed? Do you sometimes come up with a real ripper...only to misplace it when you need it. Fear nought and read on.


The Wacom people who brought you the Bamboo and Intuous desk tablets and Cintique monitor tablets have invented a way to translate your sketches to your computer very easily.

The Wacom " Inkling" is a small box that you clip onto the top of whatever sketch pad, block of paper, or journal that you are writing or drawing in. It is battery powered and light so you are not dealing with a monster. You get a real ballpoint pen with refills in the Inkling set, and this transmits your pen strokes to the receiver as you sketch. you can press a button to tell the Inkling to record whatever you have done as a layer, and then continue right on sketching on the same drawing to add more. When you have finished, you connect the Inkling to your computer and it puts your drawing in with these series of layers as separate things - you can go on and erase and correct just as you please.

It comes in a small box that packs away all the components, rather like a writing case. Indeed, think of it as such and you have a perfect backup for handwritten letters that you may send out during the day, as well as for artwork that you might produce.

Does it work? We'll find out when they arrive and we squirrel one away for the staff to play with.