"myriad of uses"
It's already happening. A machine readable driver's license is already a requirement to venture beyond the lobby of my step-kid's schools. Don't have one? "You'll have to fill in this lengthy form then, sir." They're moving towards the card being mandatory in the future. All down to "will somebody PLEASE think of the CHILDREN!", of course.
On the one hand, REAL ID requires one to have an approved drivers license in an ever increasing variety of circumstances but on the other, it makes it harder to get one. There are several categories of [legal] immigrants, K-1 fiancé's in particular, who can find it damn near impossible to get a driver's license until about 9-12 months of entry due to another REAL ID 'improvement' which requires non-citizens to have a federal issued ID (e.g. a greencard or work permit) to get a drivers license in most states.