Leading up to Apple’s iPad announcement, there was a rumor floating around the internet that the iPad would be a machine that would be shared among the family.

Another bit we didn’t know is that the tablet is supposedly shared among various people in the house, complete with sticky notes that you leave to other people.

With the announcement behind us, no mention of the iPad being a family tablet. However, should the iPad be a family machine? It’s between a smartphone and a laptop. Smartphones, such as the iPhone, are made for a single user. Most of the information on my iPhone (contacts, calendar, email, etc) is mine, and is not shared with other people.

Laptops however, such as my MacBook Pro, are family oriented. My information is controlled by user accounts, which ensure my private information stays with me, but applications and public information can be shared across all accounts on the computer.

So is the iPad a single-user machine or a family machine? Based on the announcement and what we know, it’s definitely a single-user machine. With no user controls, it would be difficult to use the built-in mail client for business if other people could read & reply to those messages. The same could be said for contacts, calendar, and thousands of applications on the iTunes App Store.

Should it be a single-user computer? My thought is “absolutely not.” Steve Jobs made a statement during the announcement (I’m paraphrasing) that if you need to access something, just “pick up your iPad off the kitchen counter.” This definitely seems like the intent would be a family machine.

Will it be a single-user computer? My guess is “No.” I’m a firm believer that iPhone OS4 is going to show the true interface for the iPad, and multi-user support will be part of the new features. Do I have any knowledge of this thought? I do not, but it sure makes a lot of sense.