Hand-held programmer for programmable liquid crystal display

A method of writing an electrically writable tag using a hand-held writing device includes the steps of: providing an electrically writable tag having a plurality of electrical conductors located on a display surface of the tag, and a mechanical alignment feature including a detent for locating the tag with respect to a hand-held writing device; providing a hand-held writing device having a corresponding plurality of electrical contacts for simultaneously making contact with the electrical conductors of the tag, and a complementary alignment feature with a detent for locating the hand-held writing device with respect to the tag; and locating the hand-held writing device with respect to the tag, using the alignment features, and activating the hand-held writing device to write information on the tag.