Anyone who's interviewed for a job at Microsoft is intimately familiar with questions like the one in this book's title. They've probably also pondered such problems as why are manhole covers round?

Remember when Apple slashed the price of the iPhone, and the brand's fanboys were upset? That's how many holiday shoppers felt this year. It used to be that, when a store sold something before ...

William Poundstone is the best-selling author of fourteen books. His Fortune's Formula was Amazon Editors' Pick for #1 nonfiction book of 2005. Poundstone has written for The New York Times book ...