Just like most other gadget geeks, I have been watching the interwebs for news and feedback on Apple’s newest release, the iPad.  Setting all jokes aside about Apple’s choice for naming the new device, there are equal arguments about what there is to love and hate about the new iPad.  What I haven’t heard much about is what this new computer form could be.  I’m not talking about the comments that the iPad needs a camera, play flash, or have a SD Card slot.  What I’m talking about is the future vision of what the iPad could be.  For example, the iPod Touch is being transformed from a music and video player to a mobile point of sales (POS) device.  Here are three things I want to see from Apple to turn this from an iWant gadget to a iMust Have This At All Costs gadget.

1. Streaming media: I sometimes feel I’m one of the few people who actually enjoy their Apple TV.  I have a Mac mini with a 2TB hard drive and that streams music, TV and movies to my Apple TV’s.  This has been the ultimate setup for enjoying all my multimedia… at the TV’s I have my Apple TV’s hooked up.  In the latest release of iTunes, Apple has turned on media sharing.  Now it’s time to take it to the next step and stream media from a central Mac or PC computer to the iPad (and preferably the iPhone and Touch too).  So when I pick up my iPad, I can start listening to all my music, view new video podcasts, and watch movies off my central media server.

2. Dock port accessories: In the last big hurrah Apple had regarding the iPhone platform, they made a big deal about how accessories can now access the Dock Port on the iPhone and iPod Touch via a new SDK.  With a tablet sized device, it will be interesting to see where/how different accessories could transform the iPad.  At first glance I see the iPad becoming an electronic binder for medical rounds or other task requiring on the go updates.  By using the Dock Port to tie into medical devices, or other instruments for record taking, you have real time data collection that can now take hours or days to compile.
3. Learning device: While Apple’s presentation showed examples of how the iPad could be used as an ebook reader, the question remains if publishers have the vision of what they could do when the produce media for a device like this.  Will textbooks be interactive enough that math problems are also digital calculators to test out examples of material they are learning?  Will book and magazine publishers find ways to engage a reader beyond just turning a digital page?  Digital print media will need to be more than electronic versions of what publishers already provide. 

When Steve and the rest of the Apple gang get these figured out, or at least present a road map, then I can guarantee that I will be making a trip to my local Apple store and snatching up an iPad because they made it an iMust Have device.  Until then, an iPad will remain stuck at the iWant level.  And you know how the saying goes… you can’t always get what you want.