Fully agree about the US economy, which is little more than a bunch of green papers with freemasonry signs on'em...but if you were a bit of an old skool user, you'd know that Apple has ALREADY passed through the dark ages...1996 anyone?
As for reliability, your anecdotal bad luck doesn't mean anything; just check the stats and you'll see that Apple comes out on top in pretty much every reliability and support aspect...and it has been like this for several years already.
My Gf's Dull laptop just died, so I told her to wait for the new MBs...all my other friends who just bought Macs could NOT be happier...and they will never return to PCland...after all, they have seen the light.