Sign of the time

What do books and hockey sticks have in common now - and basketballs in a minute? Margaret Atwood can tell you - she could even write about it - and she could do it from the other side of the world with her new invention - the Unotchit. But wait, you say, isn't Margaret Atwood a writer - not an inventor! You'd be half right because it was indeed author Margaret Atwood who thought of the Unotchit (pronounced You No Touch It) or LongPen - a remote-controlled pen that allows writers to sign books for fans from thousands of miles away.
While some think this could end the personal contact between writers and readers, Atwood says it will enhance the relationship. Her reasoning is based on that an author can't be in five countries at once - unless they are using the LongPen.
Based on a demonstration at the London Book Show, Atwood writes on an electronic pad while chatting with the book-admiring public through video linkup. A few seconds later in their part of the world, two spindly metal arms clutching a pen reproduced the words onto the fan's proffered book - to make a different kind of digital copy!
Atwood says the gadget has applications which stretch beyond the traditional book tour ie (distance) education and (the long arm of the) law.