Washington DC Family History Center 4th Annual Family History Conference (Apr 17 2010, Kensington, Md.) Wa

I “watched” (live blog, not video) the iPad kickoff presentation yesterday and was delighted with what I saw – especially the price. Yes, it is basically an iPod Touch blown up bigger. But, considering what has been accomplished with the little device, I’m looking forward to all the imaginative things app designers will create with the extra screen real estate. The device is just the stage. It’s the imagination of the app developers that will make it magical.

A recent news story about an American rescued from the rubble in Haiti reported that he used a first aid app on his iPhone to deal with his injuries while he was stuck. I checked the app store and found several very nice first aid apps. Think about it – something you keep with you most all times (your phone) is the perfect place for a quick reference on emergency information. And, they’ve done an amazing job of thinking like a person in a stressful situation to make it easy to get to the information you need quickly. I now have a first aid app on my Touch.

I have a weather app, cookbook, tide charts, my genealogy database, and several book readers (including the Kindle app) on my Touch. All of these will move to the iPad along with portable versions of my iWork apps and other apps that require constant connectivity. I’m looking forward to having access to my email, Facebook and other content wherever I am.

Next on the list is to learn how to put my own content on the iPad. The inclusion of iWork for the device makes me think it might be easier than I originally thought. Hmmm….

All About Styles

TechCrunch reports:

Once VuRoom is downloaded, the host simply selects the Skype contacts they want to join the conference and calls the entire group. The participant joins clicking the URL provided in their text chat window. Call participants, other than the host, need not have the ViVu plug-in installed to participate in the video conference. During the call, the presenter and participants can share their presentations and desktop to other participants.

VuRoom, which costs $9.95 per month, is affordable not only because of the modest price tag, but also because participants don’t have to buy the plug-in to use it.

I’m waiting for an invite to try the service. If it looks as good as it sounds, it could be well-worth $10/month to chat “face to face” with several collaborators at once.