I don't know much about light pens, but it seems from the Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pen that they are primarily intended for use with CRT monitors, which limits their utility nowadays.
Touch screens are obviously very much modern devices, and, though they're far from ideal as the only input device, I can buy that, when used in conjunction with a keyboard, they are a good replacement for a mouse or trackpad; but don't they suck up power in a way that mice and trackpads don't?