[ethan]

The following is from The Professional Chef. It's basically the textbook for the Culinary Institute of America, which is the best culinary school in the country (world?)
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Low-moisture potatoes are generally best for baked potatoes, although yellow waxy potatoes also yield good results. Low- or high-moisture potatoes may be used for oven-roasting.

Scrub the potato well. For a relatively thick-skinned potato, a brush works well. For new potatoes, use a cloth. Blot the potatoes dry before placing them in a pan to prevent an excess of steam when the potatoes start to bake. Pierce the skin of the potato in a few places to allow the steam that builds up during baking to escape. Never wrap the potato in foil before baking; the result is similar to steaming. The skin will not become crisp, and there is a noticeable flavor difference. For the same reasons, baked potatoes cannot be prepared successfully in a microwave oven. Some chefs believe that baking potatoes on a bed of salt or rubbing the skin lightly with oil encourages the development of a crisp skin and delicate, fluffy interior.

For oven-roasted potatoes, scrub or peel the potatoes and cut them into the desiered shape. Toss in fat (fat and drippings from roasted meats, oil, clarified butter, lard, goose fat and so on) and season as desired with salt and pepper, fresh or dried herbs, or spices.

Equipment needs for baking potatoes are minimal. The only truly essential piece of equipment is the oven. Potatoes can be placed directly on the oven racks

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Basically - clean the potatoes, dry them, and rub with oil and/or salt. Poke them a couple times with a fork. Season them if you're feeling inspired - it's not that hard and they taste better. Cooking at 425 degrees it should take about an hour for a 6oz potato to cook - you're looking for the point at which there's no resistance when you poke it with a fork. It doesn't take too much longer for larger potatoes. Done right, a baked potato can be very good. Done wrong, the texture's unappetizing and there's no real flavor. Thankfully, it's not that hard to do right, it just takes some time.