App of the Week: Instapaper

Sometimes it's the deceptively simple software that ends up working. When a friend told me about service and app Instapaper, I was dubious. So it saves web pages? And you can read them later? Isn't that just like... a bookmark?
Well, sort of. Bookmark a little link that Instapaper gives you, and whenever you're on an online article or blog that you want to read later, just click it. Instapaper scans the text of the web page into an archived, text-only page. Then it saves you a list. You can read simplified, text-only versions of articles without their ads and extraneous pictures - either online, or on its iPhone and Android apps.

Simple, and genius - because I find myself resorting to this all the time. On the subway? That four-paragraph blog post I didn't have time to read yesterday will last me just about those five stops. Home on the couch and bored during a commercial? I'm gonna pull out my phone and read this article about Frank Sinatra. (Bonus: its "Greatest Hits" page is filled with great content that'll keep you reading for hours.)
It's the simple things.