Random Reasonless Ranting

Note: Please be sure to read the disclaimer in the comments.

Crawling around the 'tubes today, I found some videos of speakers from TED, called TED talks, and one of the presenters was Anthony Mahavorick, a.k.a. Tony Robbins, his pen name. Who uses pen names these days? Pseudonyms and that. Pfft. Get with the 21st century; we have handles now, like tmarl42 or Acid Burn. There are no more Mark Twains; there aren't even any more Drs. Seuss. George Stark was a bit more recent¹, but he was also fictional. Pen names are a thing of the past; we're in a new era, the time of technology, and we use handles.
Furthermore, pen names are meant for writers of fiction. People like to know from whom the information comes if it isn't fiction, so non-fiction authors shouldn't use pen names. Simple as that.
I must admit, however, that pen names² are useful to certain notable authors to maintain credibility or anonymity while writing in more than one genre (plus, it helps to keep us readers unconfused), but that's not what this is about. My point is, or rather, my questions are: Why? Does Robbins sound more appealing? Does it simply fit on the cover better? Easier to say/spell/type/not mispronounce on a talk show introduction?

With that, I'll stop ranting before the bulging vein in my right temple bursts.

¹Although, Teddy was alive, he wasn't writing anymore.
²A.N. Roquelaure, for example.