The Apple Tablet: Really Real? NY Times Says "Yes. Hell Yes."

I was intrigued by some speculation that the Apple event tomorrow might turn out to be all about a breakthrough product...but that that product was not the much anticipated tablet. Well, now the New York Times has put its credibility on the line to say that indeed, a tablet is what it will be all about:


“The iPhone was a harbinger,” said Trip Hawkins, a founder of Electronic Arts and now chief executive of Digital Chocolate, which makes games for cellphones. “When you have a device that is this convenient and fun for consumers to use, you can get a lot more people interested in paying for and engaging with the content. Big media companies should be all over this like a cheap suit.”
Indeed, they already are. The New York Times Company, for example, is developing a version of its newspaper for the tablet, according to a person briefed on the effort, although executives declined to say what sort of deal had been struck. [emphasis added]


If the tablet delivers, this will breathe some much needed fresh (and for a change positive) air into the traditional media space, not just for publishers, but also for advertising agencies such as mine, which have struggled to make brands shine bright within the puny borders of online banners.

I'm preparing my own two-page spread for the new tablet, which will have this headline:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Apple.