Edible Apple

Shit just got real, people.  MacRumors did a bit of investigatory work and found that Apple purchased the iSlate.com domain name back in 2007 via MarkMonitor.com.

MarkMonitor handles domain name registrations and trademark protections for many companies, including Apple. As is typical, however, the name of the actual registrant was initially hidden to obscure the identify of the actual owner. Up until this point, one could still easily dismiss all this as a simple coincidence.

Or not, because MacRumors was able to drudge up a snapshot of the domain registration which proves Apple is in control of the domain.

And this, of course, comes just days after the Apple blogosphere exploded with a bevy of tablet rumors, with the most pertinent stories being that Apple is planning to hold an event on January 26th, and that its already contacted developers to prepare their apps for a public tablet demo, and that an actual ship date for the impending tablet, or shall we call it iSlate, is in the books for late March.

Also, remember that in late October, New York Times executive Bill Keller inadvertantly mentioned an upcoming Apple product geared towards print media that he referred to as the Apple Slate.

We need to figure out the right journalistic product to deliver to mobile platforms and devices.  I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.

Much like the boat in “I’m on a boat”, this tablet is real!