Exclusive: Apple iSlate photo?

Yep…this has about as much of a chance of being the “iSlate”, “iPad”, “iTablet”, or “iMiracleDevice” as any of the artist renderings I’ve seen. I must admit being intrigued by all the buzz and fun people are having with speculation about this rumored device — and yes, I do think there will be one and it will stun the world like the iPhone/iPod Touch has — but the “scoop du jour” frenzy will provide lots of misleading clues and pointers to stuff you should probably just ignore over the next few weeks.

By the way, this slate tablet is described here at National Geographic and is, “…a rare inscribed slate tablet dating back some 400 years, to the early days of America’s first permanent English settlement.

Both sides of the slate are covered with words, numbers, and etchings of people, plants, and birds that its owner likely encountered in the New World in the early 1600s.

The tablet was found a few feet down in what may be the first well at James Fort, dug in early 1609 by Capt. John Smith, Jamestown’s best known leader, said Bill Kelso, director of archaeology at the site.”