Jeff Chu, CEO of Springpad, said food is among the most exciting so-called possibilities that a high-definition display on a retina iPad would allow. As "chief evangelist" at Springpad, a Boston-based company with 3 million users who store and share information via the Web, he hopes his clearer picture, better video quality and enhanced graphics displays will bring a better experience. John Halamka, chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center "Make it smaller, make it faster, make it prettier, make download speed faster, and add Siri," you'd be saying, said Halamka, who oversees the technology systems at Beth Israel Deaconess, or BIDMC, one of the largest hospitals in the area. Next iPad talk? Can it get any smaller? A beefed-up camera or souped-up processor? Speculation abounds as Apple prepares to make what the company last week teased as a big announcement by Wednesday. "Make it smaller, make it faster, make it prettier, make download speed faster, and add Siri," entreats Dick Galvin despite the fact that 55 million first-generation iPads have been sold since the device debuted in 2010. New features such as Apple's voice-controlled virtual assistant Siri -- currently available only on the latest iPhone -- could entice many buyers to upgrade, or swing for the fences. "Everybody's going to want access to HD content, so this tablet is just going to be more useful," he said. Since iPad storage capacity is limited, one rumor suggests Apple may even eliminate the top-end, 64-gigabyte iPad, meaning users typically must rely on cloud storage services. "If I have a 2-gigabyte presentation that I want to suddenly pull up in class, I have to go to Google Drive just to upload it," he said. "And if it takes 90 seconds, that's 90 seconds of dead time in that class." Fifty-five million iPads have been sold since 2010. About 1,000 doctors and nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess use iPads, according to Halamka. While tablets have quickly made their way into the medical world, giving caregivers quick access to patient records and portable medical software, there's room for improvement, he said. But Halamka is also an app developer, so he's also looking forward to Siri coming to Apple's next tablet because creations like his own, which makes companies' software accessible, could then get Siri's voice control. He envisions asking Siri on an iPad a question about cooking dinner, which would open a recipe stored in the Springpad app. According to Michael Oh, president of High-Tech Superpowers, an independent Apple reseller in Boston, anticipation keeps building. "Everyone wants to know what's next," he said. No one knows what a new iPad might hold. But what do users want? We asked a doctor, a professor, a techie and a software developer what features would make their dream iPad machine. Eric Rosenbaum, soap-free cleanser, Ph.D student and research assistant at MIT Media Lab If Apple changed the way its screen feels based on what's displayed on the iPad, countless uses could emerge, asks Rosenbaum, a Ph.D student at MIT Media Lab. Instead of smooth glass, perhaps the screen could feel more like an instrument when using an app that simulates a piano. "Could it shift into a physical keyboard and then flatten out again?" he asks. "I don't think the technology exists yet, but that would be awesome." "We have some things you're really going to feel. And see," Apple said in an invitation to an event in San Francisco. Sounds like it could very well be the iPad 3. (Or iPad HD, as one rumor has it named.) Apple fanboys surely hope so. And there are many of those in the tech-friendly Boston area. "The perfect clinical device weighs one pound, fits in the pocket of a white coat, has a 10-hour battery life, can drop five feet onto carpet without damage, and is very easy to disinfect," he said. The current iPad is very close, but isn't quite convincing for one thing: It doesn't fit into a lab coat pocket, according to Halamka. "It's just a little too big," he said. "You'd love to see an 8-inch screen." Halamka may be in luck. There are also rumors Apple will release a smaller prototype iPad with a 7.85-inch display. Just right to slip into a pocket next to a stethoscope. Realize, a professor at Boston University School of Management realizes is a small-time Apple addict. He says he types on a Macbook Air and uses both the iPad 1 and 2 in his management courses at Boston University. He may snatch up the next generation iPad even though it may not have everything he wants. But, to create a better iPad, especially for classroom use, realize would want a device manipulated with fingers to have a higher resolution display for showing more and seamless connections to cloud storage networks. Related thematic articles: Fans dream ways iPad could become perfect most popular Apple computer Child behavior linked to snoring MBTA demonstrates Windows 8 operating system's true cross-platform promise If your customers can't find your website, they can't buy from you Doctor accused of murder in overdose of three patients