FEATHERS, QUILLS - OR E-MAIL?

Overhyped claim of the week comes from the Open University, which has published a textbook claiming to be 'the first in 1,000 years of legal publishing'.

The book, English Law, is linked to a Web site, which purchasers can access to check whether an aspect of law mentioned in the book has subsequently been updated.

Readers can also e-mail the authors.

If this is the first legal textbook to offer such a service, it must be the first this millennium.

It still seems a bit harsh on those who struggled so manfully in the days when ink and paper were the only way to communicate.