OneAndOneIs2

As it stands, the iPad disappointed me and even the most positive article I've yet seen (two posts down) relies heavily on "unforeseen improvements"

And I think it's perfectly OK to rely on those, within context: The majority of what we use computers for today was completely unforeseen even five years ago. It's reasonable to assume that within the next few years, someone'll have thought of some killer apps for a tablet that we can't imagine today.

But what COULD Apple have built into their tablet to make it something I'd have said "Wow, I want one?"

Well.. vague things like "a better interface" don't help much..

But here's one thing that would have made it a killer gadget: A combination of the technology in the virtual keyboard and the laser projector.

A laser projector is small, has low power requirements, and is always in focus; By using IR sensors such as the keyboard has, a projected laser screen could feasibly be built that could do multi-touch on the projected image itself.

A tablet PC still isn't that big a screen. But if it could PROJECT a screen, that objection goes away. If it was clever enough that it could project a screen and have the tablet screen become a large keyboard, you have a big screen and a big virtual keyboard. And the screen could be manipulated by more than just one person at a time.

Or, the projector could show a film on a big 16:9 widescreen whilst the little 4:3 tablet became a big, easy-to-use video control.

If you were particularly clever, you could even have tablets built so that they could detect other tablet-projected images and interact with them: Two tablets could project onto the same surface for collaborative work. e.g. writing a document or designing a diagram: If every tablet pointed at the screen automatically grabbed a copy of the document file and you could all work on the projected version, you could have multiple people work on a document and then all walk away with a copy.

But that's all window-dressing on the basic idea: The technology exists for a little tablet to be able to create a large virtual multi-touch display. If it were done dual-head, so the virtual screen and the physical screen could be different sizes and display different things, you've opened up a huge world of possibilities very quickly.

So there's MY idea for something within the realms of current possibility that could be done to make a tablet REALLY appealing. Anyone else got any others?