Etch A Sketch inventor dies: Andre Cassagnes, the man who came up with the idea of a drawing tool that may have been the analog manifestation of the iPad, has died at the age of 86 in his native France. The electrician came up with the idea, which involves two small joysticks, aluminum powder and a scraping mechanism, in 1950 — a product which the Ohio Art Company still sells today, and occasionally gets a little pop-culture recognition. “Etch A Sketch has brought much success to the Ohio Art Company, and we will be eternally grateful to Andre for that,” Larry Killgallon, the company’s president, said in a statement. “His invention brought joy to so many over such a long period of time.” You brought the nine-year-old version of me a lot of fun, Andre. Thanks. (ht @margafret; photo by bionicteaching/Flickr)