I ran across a couple of very interesting music products that incorporate functional shells/cases around iPads to create/replace two different pieces of musical equipment
The iPad Pedal Board
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iPB10/ — a programmable guitar pedal board by DigiTech using the iPad as the processor that offers 87 different pedals and 54 different amp sounds. Assembling this collection physically would cost in excess of $100,000 but for $499 you can slide in your iPad and off you go.
The iPad Mixing Board
http://www.mackie.com/products/dl1608/features/ — a new sound mixing board from Mackie that uses a physicial box for cable plug-in and an iPad as the controller/engine. Priced at about $1,500 this isn’t cheap but its much less and much smaller than an equivalently competent full sized mixing board.
I use iPad’s at home as AV system remotes, and they replaced dedicated (and very expensive, Crestron handhelds) but I hadn’t really thought of as an iPad as a plug-in computer module. These products remind me of the 70’s when computer boards began as the brains of the PC industry. Could the iPad be the computer board of this generation ? iPad blade server boxes. iPad multi TV screen panels. iPad music/video frames built inside automobiles or airplanes?
I’m curious about the potential.
Cheers. DC
the compassionate capitalist 
iPad as the brain…oh sure for the naive just starting out. There is more than one way to do things. And if someone shows the iPad route , sure you’ll be impressed. But for me digital is great that you do not need all the equipment you used to need when it was analOg. Well look at Mp3’s, people buy iTunes and they don’t feel they are missing any quality when a real CD should sound better but it don’t. I reviewed a little digital recorder no bigger than a pack of cigarettes 100’s I forget it’s name, it had back up loops, for composing anywhere and it sounded awesome. And if you plugged that little thing into a 250watt receiver you would never guess a little portable arranger, recorder with little mic hole was playing all that music. Don’t forget all the software these days that replicate the old hardware. We don’t need HARDWARE!!! That’s a waste of money. Do your research to prevent buyers remorse. And I hate buyers remorse. But when I was young I would listen to the salse man talking the big talk and I ended up with so much equipment and couldn’t arrange my songs in the least. I research alot now. He’ll is other people taking advantage of our ignorance. There is no mercy these days. No mercy at all.