NYTimes' Executive Editor mentions 'the impending Apple slate'

Sun, 10/25/2009 - 10:52pm — Seth Weintraub
3223

Bill Keller, Executive Editor for the New York Times might have accidentally let a big one (monster!) slip.  At 8:33 in the following clip (that wasn't supposed to be recorded) from his October 16th "all hands" meeting at the NYTimes' Internal Neiman Jornalism Lab he states:

"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..."

 

Re-he-he-heaaaly.

Did he just let the cat out of the bag?  Did he accidentally forget the encyclopedia-sized pile of confidentiality agreements that Apple made him sign?  He seems extremely matter of fact about the "impending Apple Slate" and doesn't clarify the statement as being some sort of forward looking statement. Very Strange. 

We keep hearing how the NYTimes and other publications have been briefed on Apple's Tablet as it gets ready to ship.   Is the name of the Apple tablet going to be 'Slate'?

Thanks Derek A. Bill. via Gawker

 

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Comments

reading

1116

He is obviously reading this from something he previously wrote. If he said something he wasn't supposed to I think it would have been a quick slip, seems like he would have caught it if he wrote it out ahead of time. Maybe he just wrote "mobile platforms" though and just listed them from the back of his head.

Regardless, a device like this does seem inevitable at this point, and the only real thing he might be revealing is the name "Slate"

Correct me if I'm wrong but

1113

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this video from 2008?

THe only thing I get out of this is that Apple is joining the Kindle market. Who cares? I see no broad market appeal for this slate thing. Is anyone really going to carry around an eleven inch piece of glass and plastic?

I take the train (LIRR) to and from NYC everyday and see maybe 5 people with Kindles. But I see about 200 with iPhones. No one needs another non-pocketable item to carry.

You're wrong

1610

The video is from October 15, 2009 according to this article and transcript from the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/10/new-york-times-still-uncertain-on-charg...

Apple Slate - the name is

1216

Apple Slate - the name is from 2007's rumors..

Wether we like the name or

1516

Wether we like the name or not, Steve Jobs will use his initials on anything he wants. lol

iPhone 3G(S)
Apple (S)late

'Slate' implies very thin...

1115

...rumor did have it that the Apple 'tablet' borrows from the MacBook Air. Dell have upped the ante with the ultra slim Adamo. Not that thinness will be the most important characteristic, but the term Slate makes it sound like a sexy quality device. Oh the excitement!

iSlate

1212

Sorry, but by listening to what he had to say and how he said it I don't think this was a slip of any kind. We all hope apple introduces a tablet type device and sounds to me like they just chose to use "Apple Slate" as a good way to describe it. Hopefully they can coin the term...

It's probably a reference to

1313

It's probably a reference to the slate of technology that Apple is developing. In this sense I can see how he may reference the entire lineup of Apple's mobile devices as a "slate" rather than referencing a specific product.

The laptop is dead. Long live the laptop.

719

This may not be the death of the laptop but for me it will be.

I bought my final desktop 5 years ago and now it seems I bought my final laptop a year ago.

omg...

198

This post couldn't have less substance. Wow he mentioned something that the NYT has been writing rumors about for months! Breaking news! It must be coming soon! Let me know when you guys find some actual information.

Actually it has substance...

1015

Actually it has substance... The rumor about the tablet device is based a bit loosely on soft evidence about it’s existence (hard evidence are rare about it). So for him to talk about it casually (if he is in the know) means that it is indeed coming (repeat: if he is in the know). It also gives credentials to the rumors that Apple will try to do with the printed media, what it did with the music industry. Wich is to be a part of it’s revolution in coming to the digital age.

8.33 minutes into talk

1313

His talk pretty much sums up the dilemma of the print media and i suspect will be listened to by most English speaking print medial owners & editors in the world. The mention of the Apple Slate is near the end at 8.33 minutes.

Perhaps, like the rest of us,

1016

Perhaps, like the rest of us, he means he _assumes_ such a device is coming. I just don't see something like that slipping out so easily.

In any case, it's on my shopping list, whenever it comes, and whatever form it takes -- even if just to experiment with its capabilities.

I don't think he's spilling

1215

I don't think he's spilling the beans so much as he's speculating... just like we all are. He's human after all, and thoughts of such a product no doubt consume him more than us.

Bill Keller and jkontherun

1216

Bill Keller, is not the only one who said "Apple Slate", See this post dated on November 2007, http://tinyurl.com/yht5763

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