We are several weeks past the device's launch, and still somewhat short of the first million iPads sold, but the debate about which industry sectors are most likely to be transformed by the iPad continues unabated.

Pre-launch predictions that Apple (News - Alert) was unleashing a Kindle killer have faded, as Amazon's free Kindle reader app for the iPad is co-existing peaceably with Apple's iBooks and making it easier than ever to browse and buy books in all formats. Speculation that the iPad would be widely adopted in healthcare and clinical settings remains largely in prediction mode. A few hospitals and healthcare providers have announced iPad pilots but there's no evidence of a surge of medical applications or adopters. Surveys of iPad buyers note that many expect to use their device for work as much as for entertainment, but we are not yet seeing amazing new enterprise applications designed to leverage the iPad platform.

So where is this "magical and revolutionary product" most likely to make its mark? After almost two weeks of dedicated hands-on research (otherwise known as playing with my new iPad), I'm ready to offer my own prediction. The iPad is perfectly positioned to connect and control a new generation of wireless smart, location-aware products in our homes, our cars, and eventually our offices. By the end of 2010, consumers will be using iPad apps to monitor and manage home appliances and overall energy consumption, to interact with and remotely control media in all formats from multiple in-home devices, and to keep tabs on exactly where and how fast Junior is driving the family car.

Yes, these apps are already available for smartphones and on dedicated systems like the EnergyHub monitor and the Control 4 home automation system. As for a universal remote, that promise has been made and broken so many times in the past decade that it has the aura of el Dorado. Surveying the lineup of nine dedicated remote controls that surround my current Logitech (News - Alert) "universal remote" I admit that these devices are never quite smart enough to let me get rid of all those other controllers, so I understand the skepticism about adding yet another home connector.

The iPad's key advantage over those earlier devices that do nothing but exercise remote control is that the iPad start out as an amazing entertainment, content delivery, and interactive platform that make it irresistibly easy to integrate streams of information with a few touches of the screen. The controller functionality makes sense because you will be interacting with the iPad constantly anyway.

Some companies are embracing the iPad control function even though they have already invested in developing and marketing their own dedicated, high end control pads. Control4 (see my recent interview with the company below) is already offering a "My Home for iPad" free application that puts the iPad in charge of Control 4 home automation and energy monitoring systems, from security to lighting and thermostat settings. Creston home automation announced its iPad application way back in February (at right), long before iPads made it into consumer hands.

Not to be outdone, the high-end Bang and Olufsen brand provide a free BeoLink iPad application to control their Master Link Gateway (News - Alert) home automation and control system. These high end systems can leverage the iPad's great screen resolution and ease of use, but they are still too expensive to position the iPad as a universal controller. There are plenty of smaller companies contending for that role. If you are not ready to spend thousands on home automation systems just yet, there are multiple iPad option for finally getting rid of all those separate remote controls, as well as linking the iPad to your existing iPhone (News - Alert) functionality.

The Red Eye mini from ThinkFlood is a small infrared adapter (pictured left) that sells for under $50 and plugs into the headphone jack of your iPad to turn it into a controller for everything that speaks IR, including TV, DVD and audio players. Download the free (do you see the trend here?) iPad application and you will never look back.

In a recent online interview, AT&T's (News - Alert) Glen Lurie said that "Connected Devices are the biggest opportunity going forward" and that "A couple of years ago the idea of what a phone could do was very different than it is today. Innovation in this space will come even faster than in the smartphone segment." A few years from now, we will undoubtedly look back at the predictions surrounding the debut of the iPad with a shake of our heads, as new habits and business models take hold. Even so, I'm willing to put some money on the iPad emerging as a universal connector. It's been a long time coming, but Apple has produced a smarter, simpler and easier to use device that seems destined to control the connected home of the future.