When it comes to book-length reading, no glowing LCD tablet screen can hold a backlight to the eye-saving e-ink of these readers.

The Basics

Why not a full-fledged tablet?

Entry-level e-readers have become better, faster, and more stylish. Considering their low cost, featherweight portability (6 to 7 ounces), battery life (up to a month per charge), and superior readability, it's easy to justify having an e-reader and a tablet. Also, the lack of distractions on a dedicated reader is nice.

Yes. It's comparable to the differences in...

It’s no longer news when the company that once famously refused to run commercials does so — another sign of conventionality in the company that promised not to be conventional — but it is still rare enough to be worthy of analysis.

Above is the Google holiday commercial, where the Muppets do a Google+ Hangout.

You get a sense of Google’s strategic priorities by seeing that it’s spending millions to promote Google+. The war for personal information is crucial to Google, and it’s the impetus behind Google+, as I’ve written here. Further information comes in a follow-up interview with Bradley...