A mere month ago, the phrase “iPad 3” filled my heart with fear and frustration. But now, I am head over heels in iPad <3. How did such an about face happen? This top ten list of things to <3 about an iPad 3 gives you an idea.

10.  It’s much easier to wrestle from beneath the airplane seat (where the flight goddesses insist it be placed during take off and landing) than a Mac laptop. The strangers seated beside me – the ones normally elbowed black and blue during the technology retrieval wrestling match – <3 the iPad 3 for this reason, too.

9.   The note feature, where I jot down ideas and to-do list items, sends the list to my email box 12 hours later. By then, my 55-year-old brain has forgotten about the list, so the iPad 3 has become my personal assistant.

8.   The Kindle app makes it easy to check out library books or order them from Amazon. So far, no matter how hard I try, it’s been impossible to destroy the process!

7.   The Kindle feature means it’s also easier to travel light. However, the feature does not help me stay awake at night long enough to read more than a paragraph or two. (Apple research and development people, would you get to work on that?)

6.   Fingerprints on the touch screen give the obsessive-compulsive part of my personality something to obsess about. Now if someone would invent a microfiber sleeve cuff, I’ll be set for life. (Another idea for the Apple R & D department.)

5.   Going to Apple Store classes with all the other old people determined to get their money’s worth from their new gizmos makes me feel young, since most of them look older than me.

4.  Thanks to the iPad 3, the Square app, and the card swiper do-hickey, I can now accept plastic when manning my book table. I haven’t used it yet, but my sister says it’s really easy to use. She said the same thing when she taught me to play jacks, jump rope, and color in the lines, and was right, so I believe  her about this, too.

3.  I can buy a month of Verizon service for $20 before traveling. Being able to access the internet in any airport is worth the investment, especially during 6 hour flight delays. And when Hiram and I are on the road and the one in the passenger seat, we love being able to update our websites. (www.jolenephilo.com, www.DifferentDream.com, and www.philoguitar.com.)

2.  Using the iPad 3 to type notes at church or workshops makes me feel so techie and with it and disguises the fact that I need the notes feature in order to remember anything.. In fact, while I type away, the people around me are probably thinking, “Wow, look at that young woman typing on her iPad. Surely, it’ll be decades until she can order from the senior citizen’s menu at IHOP.”

1.  The iGeniuses at the Apple Store love me. They recognize my face when I walk in the store. Most of them know my name. Not only that, they laugh whenever I ask a question. Who knew a 55-year-old, who doesn’t look it and can’t remember any of their names, could bring so much cheer to the lives of lonely, intelligent, twenty-something techie geeks?

Do you have an iPad? Leave a comment about what you <3 about yours.