Widescreen

I mean, come on Apple. If you’re going to sell it as a good device for watching movies, you really needed to give it a wide screen. There’s not really any excuse for 4:3 these days

Transreflective screen

Similarly, if you’re going to pitch a device as an e-book reader, then straight backlit LCD isn’t a good solution. I agree that e-ink isn’t a solution for something which needs to be a multimedia platform, but trying to read at night on this is just going to keep me awake

iPhone Connectivity

Having the iTunes store on the device is a great idea, but if you can’t plug in your iPhone (no USB ports) to get the choons, it’s pretty crippled. Even better, let people sync wirelessly! Everyone hates dongles!

Multitasking

OK, it’s an easy dig, but this really is something people want and need. Think of a tablet with hot corners that activate Exposé-style blowouts? Sexy.

Stylus Input & Handwriting Recognition

Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but for me a prime use case for a tablet is as a quick note-taking device. With a capacitive stylus and a quick notes app, this could have been a great bit of additional functionality.

Hardware Extras

Camera, front-facing camera, proper GPS, USB ports (as above), HDMI output . . . I assume these were all left out to keep the costs down, but not having them limits the potential of the device – particularly the camera and the GPS, surely this should have more functionality than the iPhone?

Doubtless in a year’s time you’ll all point to this post as an example of “No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.“ but this is just how I see it right now. I don’t doubt it’s fantastic to use for what it is; I just think that it’s missing too much stuff to be truly great.

Edit: put much more succinctly by Bad Horsey on B3ta