While this Etch-A-Sketch case for the iPad brings back all sorts of fuzzy memories of early-80s morning spent meticulously squiggling drawings of Optimus Prime in sharp ninety degree angles on the first tablet I ever owned, I can’t help but be disappointed by the vestigial nature of the knobs.
Surely if you’re going to go to all the trouble of licensing the coveted Etch-A-Sketch brand, you should go the whole hog, hook the knobs up to the dock connector and use them to interface with an official Etch-A-Sketch app. I’d easily spend twice as much as this case’s $40 asking price for that functionality, especially if I could finally save my aluminum powder masterpieces for future generations to admire.
It’s still a fitting fusion of brands, though. I’m hard pressed to identify the most magical tablet I ever owned, my iPad or my first Etch-A-Sketch… and come to think of it, they have more than that in common, since my delinquent (and now drunken) brother recently proved that just as he did with my Etch-A-Sketch so many years ago, he also enjoys bursting into the room when I’m playing with my iPad, ripping it from my hands and insanely shaking it above his head as he fills the air with his cruel, taunting laughter. Ah, memories.
