We know by now, after being told a million times or so, that it is more “cool” to be on the Apple/Mac side of the fence. Hence, the Mac is cooler than the PC; the iPod is the coolest MP3 player of them all; and the iPhone is practically the only cool smart phone.

Or so the Apple marketing machine tells us.

We also know, however, especially those who are forty-ish and beyond among us, that the Beatles is the coolest band ever. And the absence of the Beatles songs on the iPhone/iPod/iPad ecosystem is a glaring lack of endorsement from McCartney and the rest of the cool gang.

Now, comes Yoko Ono saying it is quite doubtful Beatles MP3s would be available for download via Steve Jobs’ online music store.

Not cool.

RIM Tablet

Several governments’ efforts to force it to open up its networks notwithstanding, the show must go on for Canadian tech firm Research In Motion. And it seems that the company is seriously tinkering with a tablet PC project dubbed the BlackPad.

In fact, according to a report by Chinese newspaper Apple Daily, the company has awarded a contract to Taiwan-based Quanta Computer to make the long-rumored 9.7-inch tablet PC, which is supposed to have Bluetooth, WiFi, and front- and rear-facing cameras.

The BlackPad, the news story further says, will be running Google’s Android mobile OS instead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS 6, and that fans of tablet PCs who do not fancy an iPad will have a jolly Christmas this year. RIM intends to launch the BlackPad before the holiday season comes.

Another Slate-r

Last week, media reports also focused on the stunt pulled by disgruntled and long-suffering flight attendant Steven Slater. The Internet (online news outlets, networking sites, and bloggers) extended Slater’s fame far longer than the proverbial 15 minutes.

In fact, Slater has become an online folk hero. This proves that Slater’s grand and theatrics-filled move to resign his JetBlue job has struck a chord among millions of people who most likely have been suffering and putting up with their equally miserable jobs like the flight attendant had.

Or it could also mean that the Web indeed has this ability to magnify what otherwise could have been a mere local development into a news of global though dubious significance.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.