First, we heard rumors about the hardware. But you can only have so many rumors about hardware, so after a while everything we heard about Apple’s mythical Tablet merely resulted in one huge pile of colorful images, with little real substance.

The rumors about publishers who already have big plans for the device, however, are galore. The latest on the list? Condé Nast, which – according to All Things Digital – claims it’s preparing a digital version of Wired magazine for the Apple Tablet by the middle of next year, followed by its other 18 titles.

The interesting thing about this news is the fact that Condé Nast claims they haven’t talked to Apple, and they don’t even know the company has plans for such a device.

While this is very hard to believe, if it’s true, it would mean that Apple has attained a new, truly outwordly level of influence: companies are making plans and spending money based on what Apple might do.

Imagine the power: all the major news publishers bend to your will even before your product has materialized. You can simply wait until the demand is big enough, and then come down from your pedestal and deliver the goods (earning a huge heap of money in the process).

Snapping back to the real world, it’s quite obvious that Condé Nast, New York Times and others have been talking to Apple and yes, the tablet is coming. Its look and hardware-related details now seem to be less interesting than the question: will it save the newspaper industry? If it does, I suspect that Apple will have a nice, healthy chunk of the profits.