It would only take 3 modest changes to the iPhone OS for me to be ok with the iPad (and iPhone, really) (and all of these would need to be well documented):

1) dongle wires, and OS drivers, that support generic USB devices (storage, keyboards, mice, even modems (for the iPod Touch and iPad)). Some of that is present in the iPad, but it's not clear that keyboards are there (it's not clear to me how the keyboard doc is implemented, and how hard it would be to make it work with a USB keyboard). The keyboard being the one that is actually the most important to me.

2) a Symbian and Android like ability to set "allow 3rd party app installation" (install direct from files given by the app author, bypassing the app store).

3) DVI-I/DisplayPort/HDMI dongle for the iPad, with 720p support.

From there, it would be nice if they made a 4.2" 850x480 version of the iPhone, and had Swype input. But those are "would be nice"s.

With #1, I could see someone making an add-on shell for the iPhone or iPod Touch that had a clamshell keyboard, battery boost, and microSD card. Or a slider equivalent (for those who want an N810 style slider instead of a clamshell). Same for the iPad (there's your Apple netbook). Add in #3, and that iPad "netbook" shell has full KVM switch capability.

#2 addresses my concerns about app store lock-in, and customer freedom of choice.

I might even be willing to pay a small amount extra to enable #1 and #2, as a "Pro" package. Yes, #2 ought to be free, but I can see Apple feeling that that's not a generic consumer concern, which is their main target ... not "geeks", but "the rest of us". Further, there might be more liability, and support costs, for enabling those things. And, it makes it more than a simple on-off switch that might be enabled by the clueless (and thus open those users up to problems). It creates a hurdle to weed out people who don't REALLY want/need that extra level of capability. It may also help offset any perception of lost revenue from #2.