Microsoft offers a tablet for writers, maybe

Tablets are great for reading, but the gadgets offer little to writers. Their size and technology still doesn’t easily connect the way a pen and paper do. Well, one writer thinks Microsoft’s new invention might change that.

Also, we’ll look at the growth of essay writing services for students, when to use the em-dash, Amazon’s new author rank tool, and more.

Is the Surface a tablet for writers? In the tablet wars, productivity has always taken a back seat to consumption. You might occasionally see a co-worker struggling through email composition, but otherwise, these devices have mostly treated writing as something for laptops. Could the Surface, Microsoft’s iPad challenger, change that? A writer for tech website DVICE considers it. Kevin Hall checks off the list of attempts to mobilize writing (remember the Netbook?) and isn’t convinced yet that the surface is the answer. But based on early reviews, he says it could be the device that helps writers “create full-bodied documents without having to jump through a bunch of app hoops.” Read the full post here.

The free market of essay writing. Essay writing services for students are becoming more common, and they are apparently increasingly harder to detect. In The Atlantic, Richard Gunderman discusses the trend and some of the companies behind essay production. Just about everyone can agree on the ethics of paid essays. But it doesn’t appear to be illegal in most states, which has allowed markets to open to students who get a certain quality and turn-around time based on how much they are willing to pay. It’s easy to see the incentive for writers. For a good writer, $20 to $80 a page for a college freshman-level essay is pretty easy money. Read the story here.