The worst-hidden nerd secret since ‘you can fix glasses using sellotape’ is about to be revealed. Apple will announce an exciting iTablet/iSlate/iPad in just a couple of days, which we’re lead to believe will shake up the home computing world, shaping the way we read e-books, music and video in the future. An excellent piece in The Guardian here speculates why, amongst other things, Apple’s keyboard-less wonder will be more significant than their nearest competitor’s attempts. Some are wary, pointing out Apple’s not-unblemished track record. The Apple Cube, and to a lesser extent the Apple TV were not the huge successes that they were intended. But even the now ubiquitous iPod and iPhones had their critics on release.

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Don’t worry, this isn’t another article triumphing The Wire. You don’t need another person pouring praise on the sprawling ‘dickensian’ crime drama and its dozens of intriguing characters ‘sharing a dark corner of the American experiment’. And no, this isn’t an opinion piece pointing out that the majority of folk enjoying this mostly-black gangster crime show are white middle class media workers. Well, it is, as that is true, but only just a bit. If you’ve not yet watched ‘The best thing on television since the invention of radio’ I’d recommend you read my friend Sameer’s 100% spoiler-free piece instead. What interests me is the method by which it became popularised in this country, and what it means for future groundbreaking programming.

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