[plug]You might want to try using Scriptito instead of Google docs, as it can directly export to EPUB and Kindle/MOBI format... and it's free.[/plug]

We turned off cable 1.5 years ago, and while we underwent some initial withdrawal, we soon figured out what to do with our newly-discovered "free time" and have not missed it since. Possible activities instead of watching TV:
- Go outside, throw a football/kick a soccer ball/shoot some basketball, etc. with friends and/or children.
- Go walking/hiking/running/biking.
- Meet your neighbors, invite 'em over for a beer.
- Rediscover your community center/health club/park. Play tennis, basketball, racquetball. Work out, swim, etc.
- Rediscover "crafts". Build paper mache stuff w/ your kids (free, and the kids love it). Build models.
- Play board games.
These are some of the many things that I used to do as a kid (except for the beer), and looking back now it's depressing to see how we let TV take their place.

The trend towards fantasy started long ago. I remember reading an article in Time about it in 2002 (http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021202/amfantasy.html), and even then, the trend was not new. There was so much excitement and "looking forward" to the future in the 50s, 60s, and even the 70s, but that has largely died out. I believe the main reason has to do with the fact that no matter how amazingly advanced we become, the "reality" of advanced technology is infinitely more mundane than the "promise". The most exciting tech lately has all centered around consumption. Is consuming audio/video on a tablet really all that better than a TV or laptop?

While ChromeOS may not have any means for you to directly store stuff on it, by virtue of it being an HTML5-compliant* browser it *will* allow any web application that you may use to store things locally (using the offline and local storage features new to HTML5). So even if you're offline on an airplane, some of the apps you have may still work..

Even if they don't implement offline features, web apps may still work on airplanes as the flight that I was just on (Delta) had Internet connectivity... and I suspect that in a couple years, connectivity will be so pervasive that offline mode will be rendered moot for 99% of the population.

*compliant is, as I understand, still a moving target.