The Internet at its best: TED Talks

Being in the "Internet business", we often go through our work days buried in code, development tools and esoteric discussions about how to best present a client's message. Having been an early Internet adopter (1994) I often get depressed by how this media has been misused by spammers, virus terrorists, porn and pedophiles. And, in spite of the '00 and '04 hype, we've yet to see a presidential election swung by the hoards of young, multi-tasking adults raised accepting the Internet as their communication tool of choice.

So it is that once in a while I am pleasantly surprised ("stunned" would work, too) by what is out on the web. Such a site is the TED conference site.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Their annual conference is by invitation only with 1,000 people paying $4,500 each to attend. But through the magic of the Internet, the session speakers are accessible for free on the web!

They also have shorter, more frequent TED Talks with a wide variety of talented speakers and topics. If I had to pick only two of my favorite speakers it would have to be the poet Rives telling what the Internet would be like if he'd invented it and Michael Shermer, the editor of Skeptic Magizine demonstrating how people are taken in by misleading information.

Truly a wonderful site that gives me hope that the Internet is and will yet become a world changing media. Thanks TED!

Enjoy!