67 Hours

I just got my laptop back from the shop this afternoon after three days' absence. I timed it mostly over the weekend so I wouldn't miss much work, but this morning I still had to take notes during a conference with pen and paper. Which is not only a pain, but it makes the actual writing harder, since I have to key the stuff in.

The time away has made me more intensely aware of several things:

• Apple makes high-quality products, but I am tough on them. And I use my computer, literally, 18 hours a day -- a little less on weekends. But it's a LOT.
• I really need a backup computer. I thought this would be it when I purchased a new MacBook Pro this spring. But the new versions that just came out were more evolutionary than revolutionary, and I was burned before when they overhauled the model a year after I bought this one.
• So I need to hold out with this one for another year, which is going to be tricky since the service just ended. (Apple only lets you buy three years' worth.)
• To extend its life, and to give myself a semi-decent backup, I am definitely buying the new iPad that comes out this Friday. I've waited long enough for the revamp, and even if they tweak it again in 6 months, I've decided it's a critical need. I CANNOT WAIT, and hope the lines aren't bad Friday, since they're not accepting pre-orders.
• The tiny iPhone screen and virtual keyboard are no substitute. That's how I got along the past three days, and it was tough. People who say the iPad is nothing but a big iTouch must have better eyes, nimbler fingers and more patience than I have, because it's a real hassle.
• My iPhone is slowly dying, and I need to squeeze a few more months out of it. Again, new models are coming out this summer and I don't want mine to be obsolete so soon. Hopefully the iPad will also take some of the burden off the iPhone.

That is the plan. Wish I could just go to sleep and wake up Friday ...