Lame, what a dumb answer. It has tons off applicable uses.
No it doesn't. Multitouch is almost exclusively for limited screen size usage. No one wants to be reaching over their desktop, making gestures with oily fingers on their $2000+ monitors.
They might make a new input device but would it really be easier than a mouse or keyboard for most applications. Frankly, if I know the keybaord shortcuts, I don't even like using the mouse.
For graphics applications, tablets like Wacoms, cintiq or intuos is still prefered rather than multi-touch. Mainly because most artists like to control a pen or stylus with some sort of pressure feedback system rather than move multiple fingers in a gesture.
So as Apple said, their trying to figure out where it can be most effective in the desktop environment i.e. "research".