No matter how long you've been around tech, some gadgets can still feel magical. Consider the self-balancing systems in PEVs like Segways, Onewheels and electric unicycles. You wouldn't think that a gyroscope could keep a person upright at 40 mph, yet the proof is out there on the streets. The best ereaders may not be as dramatic as that — nevertheless, it's counterintuitive that an e-ink tablet can display an image indefinitely.

E-ink is fundamental to how ereaders work, providing a paper-like reading experience that's softer on the eyes than LCD or OLED. For some, the more significant advantage may be battery life. Many ereaders can sit unplugged for weeks or months at a time, whereas an iPad is liable to drain in several days, regardless of whether you pick it up to browse the web or play a game.

The basic mechanics of e-ink are easy to understand, connected to the basic electromagnetism you may have learned in high school. The devil is in their precise chemistry and electronics. Indeed, there are fundamental barriers to how well they can compete with the rest of the tablet market.

The secret to the e-ink's longevity and easy viewing is that instead of projecting light, it relies on tiny "microcapsules" to represent each pixel. And we do mean tiny. The namesake E Ink company, which partners with the likes of Amazon and reMarkable, notes that even its most basic black-and-white capsules have the diameter of a human hair. Some e-ink panels may rely on a splinter technology called Microcups — but since the same general principles apply, we won't break that out here.

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