A few weeks ago, I got myself an iPad. Ebook readers are well and good in principle, but as my friend Tyler pointed out, for technical papers and books that are rife with figures, it becomes necessary to zoom in and out, and ebook readers just aren’t there yet. Plus, this gives me the internet, directions, my news, email, pictures, and movies on long flights (which have become a part of living in Saudi Arabia).

Getting the device, however, proved interesting. I had originally planned to get one almost two months ago, and called up the 5th Avenue Apple store around 11 at night, thinking it would be less busy. They’re open 24/7, and the idea of walking into the store in the middle of the night and buying a device held a certain appeal. After 20 minutes on hold, I talked to a guy, and asked him if they had any in stock (after all, it’s kind of a long walk). He sort of laughed, said ‘no,’ and that I’d have to make an appointment to buy one. This didn’t seem right to me, but it was late and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a smarmy Apple employee.

A few weeks after that, I figured I’d bike down to the Upper West Side store, figuring out that it would be faster to ride there than to wait on hold. I asked if they had stock, and someone told me they did, and that he’d go back and get it. Then, 15 minutes later he returns saying he was mistaken. Then, I zip off to the 5th Ave store, where it’s the same story. Then downtown to the 14th St. store, and eventually the SoHo store. Nothing. And, it was actually faster to bike to every Apple store in Manhattan than to call them.

It wasn’t until two weeks after that when I drove up to New Hampshire to see my sister that I was finally able to get one. I called her campus book store, and they had everything in stock. And to boot, there’s no sales tax there. A 10-minute phone call (and a five-hour drive I was making anyway) later, I finally had an iPad. Such an ordeal!

In the end, I wonder, why does Apple make it so hard to love them? All I want to do is buy their latest polished turd of a device. That said, I really have been enjoying the hell out of it. But the spite is growing, Apple. The spite is growing.