Andrew Douglas B2B journalist, turned PR man, specializing in new media.

Dear Steve: Here’s what I want in the iPad 2.0

I'm a Mac. I've been one for years. Between us, my family of five has three iPods, an iPod Touch, an iPhone, a MacBook, MacBook Pro, and two iMacs.

But we won't be buying an iPad. Why would we want a giant iPod Touch, which is all the iPad seems to be?

Steve Jobs and Apple missed an opportunity to invent a whole new category -- to take a bunch of my family's must-have tech appliances and smush them into one über tool.

Here are three ideas the bright minds at Apple can wrestle with before they release iPad 2.0.

1. A jot-and-jog deskmate

When an impromptu meeting gets called, I frequently grab a pad of paper in case I need to jot something down and my BlackBerry in case I need to check through old emails to jog my memory. Neither tool serves its purpose well. I lose the paper and my BB is an imperfect device. I have my emails sorted into folders on my laptop and I find it frustrating not being able to access my filing system without carting around my laptop. But it feels like overkill to unplug my MacBook Pro from my second screen and lug it into my boss' office for a five minute briefing.

It would be cool if I had an iPad that would sync automatically with my MacBook Pro via Bluetooth. My main files and email would be twinned just by setting it down on my desk near my laptop. I'd simply swipe my iPad off my desk and have a handy security blanket. The smaller screen and lack of keyboard would make it impractical as a regular work device but for meetings it could be dandy. Of course I'd need full versions of Word and Entourage. Don't give me cloud computing either -- I want loaded, fast software.

1. Solve my multiple phone problem

My wife and I are much more reachable on our mobiles. Nothing is more frustrating than grabbing our antiquated land-line phone and hearing the beep-beep-beep of voice mail and realizing people have been waiting for days for a call-back.

But I'm not ready to give up our land line yet. I want a home phone that is a multipurpose machine.Our kids are too young to have mobile phones and I still feel like we need a central, family number.

It seems like the iPad could somehow solve this problem. I could see myself carrying it around the house anyway, since it's loaded with apps that I'd want to plug into frequently.

The next generation iPad could have a wifi phone capability. When my wife's iPhone logs on to the same wifi network, it could transfer her calls to the iPad automatically. Same with my BlackBerry. It could forward the calls from my mobile number to our home number so we wouldn't chew up cell phone minutes.

I see holes in my idea already but I bet a day-long brainstorming session between some smart Apple designers could spit out some wild ideas that could change voice communication in the home forever.

3. One-handed QWERTY keyboard

In one promotional picture from Apple, I saw a guy holding an iPad with his left hand while he typed on a QWERTY keyboard with his right. It seemed awkward.

Apple should invent a one-handed QWERTY keyboard. I'd make it a circle, like an old rotary phone. Maybe they could put the most-used letters at the top, outer edge and less-used letters in the inside of the circle or at the bottom. It would take up less screen real estate and would probably be faster for typing. You could toggle between the new one-handed keyboard and a standard QWERTY one.

I was waiting for something big out of Steve Jobs. I remember the gasps and cheers when Jobs unlocked the iPhone for the first time. There was no reason to gasp at the new iPad. But there's always 2.0.