Still, I can dream. Though some technologists are now saying it's unlikely the rumored Apple tablet will have a 10-inch screen, I'm kinda hoping it does.

I'd love for the device -- which I'll simply refer to as the iPad, for brevity's sake -- to have all the functions of my iPod touch. In other words, I want it to be a great portable device for holding my music and videos. I also want (and expect it to) have some revolutionary e-book, e-newspaper and e-magazine features. I want digital subscriptions to publications such as USA Today and MacUser UK and have 'em magically appear on my iPad when new issues arrive.

My life would be complete if the iPad could replace my laptop, as well. Many folks are now using a laptop as their primary computer. Not Yours Truly. My beloved 27-inch iMac is what I do the bulk of my work on. It's also the computer I use for working on home videos, photo manipulation and, occasionally, watching a DVD or TV show.

My 13-inch MacBook is mainly used when I cover a trade show or go to visit Mom. I use it to write articles, check email and surf the 'Net. I'm expecting the iPad to be great for email checking and browsing the web. But what of penning an article? Perhaps there'll be an iPhone OS version of Pages that will allow me to do this, since the tablet will probably use a version of the iPhone OS and not Mac OS X proper. And perhaps the iPad will either support an external keyboard via Bluetooth -- or else sport a virtual keyboard.

What's more, sometimes I do need to transfer pics from my digital camera to my laptop to include with an article for Macsimum News. Will there be a way for an iPad to do this?

The expectations for the rumored device are so high that Apple has a challenge in releasing something that won't disappoint (even though the company has never even confirmed there is at tablet in the works). Still, these are my wishes for the ideal iPad. That an anti-gravity feature so the device can follow me around and I won't have to carry it.