Tag: ted

We all now understand that the past decade has let consumers build a 'social layer' on top of their everyday lives, using services such as Facebook and Twitter to capture their social lives on the web. In this clip from TEDxBoston, proud Princeton "dropout" and mobile-entrepreneur Seth Priebatsch considers the next layer in progress: the "game layer" (a pervasive set of motivating 'dynamics' that will reshape education and commerce).

The insights from Tom Wujec's design exercise are what makes this video worth watching. For instance: Kindergarten students are among the best builders, while recent graduates of business school are among the worst. Oh, and CEOs perform better if executive administrators are added to their team (somehow, that's not even remotely surprising).

OK, when's the last time a mobile-phone carrier made you feel all warm and cuddly inside? Never? Yeah, us, too. With its latest advert, T Mobile UK does its doggonedest to change that.

I've been trying to work up a new equation. Could it be that business models that demand a certain (albeit tiny) amount of exertion from the customer, in return for a proportionate (or slightly greater) and guaranteed reward, are more likely to build brand loyalty than those which provide a solution that's seemingly effortless to achieve?

In this typically thought provoking TED talk, architect and ecologist Mitchell Joachim shares some of his recent experiments 'growing' houses out of trees and... meat! Imagine using animal fat for insulation and "sphincter muscles for doors and windows".

In this typically thought provoking TED talk, architect and ecologist Mitchell Joachim shares some of his recent experiments 'growing' houses out of trees and... meat! Imagine using animal fat for insulation and "sphincter muscles for doors and windows".

Rory Sutherland uses the theory of behavioural economics and a number of humorous but valid examples to explain that, when faced with big challenges, the common response of most corporations and governments is to seek big, expensive fixes. In doing so, more obvious and cheaper solutions that stand a higher chance of success are generally ignored.

In this TEDx talk, Simon Sinek explores the reasons why only some companies and leaders succeed when the tools and materials for success are available to everyone. Drawing examples from Apple, the Wright Brothers and Martin Luther King, Sinek uses his simple but powerful model of the 'golden circle' and the question 'why' to illustrate how inspirational leaders achieve greatness.

As illustrated in this talk from the Ted Conference held in California earlier this year, Nobel Prize-winning behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman has an intimate understanding of the complexity of experience and the tyranny that memory wields over the perpetual present. It's thought-provoking subject matter with profound implications for the way we perceive and pursue happiness, both in ourselves and with those around us.

Over 18-minutes, Godin outlines his theory that the internet has banished the era of mass marketing, and that the ancient social unit of the tribe has returned, empowering ordinary people to lead extraordinary movements. It's both educational and inspirational, with Godin conveying his message with purpose and humour (helped along by some witty photo slides).

Aguera y Arcas didn't disappoint with this overview of how he and his team are incorporating augmented reality into Photosynth and Bing Maps. Check out the gasp he draws from the audience when he zooms from an aerial view of Seattle to photo-realistic street view.

Aguera y Arcas didn't disappoint with this overview of how he and his team are incorporating augmented reality into Photosynth and Bing Maps. Check out the gasp he draws from the audience when he zooms from an aerial view of Seattle to photo-realistic street view.

Mistry believes that the next step in computing is blending human gestures in the physical world with that of our everday digital needs, thus bringing it, and us, closer together. At the same time this will free us from the interfacing restrictions that we currently experience.

Did you feel like your creativity was really nurtured at school? Chances are, it wasn't. In this great talk from the 2006 TED conference, British creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson argues that current education systems are geared to producing obedient worker drones rather than creative innovators. In contrast, he believes that educators should consider creativity as important as literacy when preparing young minds for a rapidly evolving future.

Stefan Sagmeister is New York-based designer with a fresh take on work and inspiration. Every seven years he closes his Manhattan studio for 12 months so he and his team can recharge their creative batteries.

In this extremely entertaining talk delivered at TEDglobal 2009 in Oxford (bet you'll be hooked after the first 15 seconds), English ad man Rory Sutherland explores perception and reality in a commercial world.

A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat, claimed Monty Python. And they were right. If you can't 'see' something then you can't understand it. Comedian, writer and TV personality John Lloyd explores nature's various fathomable and unfathomable 'unseens' with dry wit, while drawing some amusing life parallels that leave you contemplating the importance of what lies beneath.

A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat, claimed Monty Python. And they were right. If you can't 'see' something then you can't understand it. Comedian, writer and TV personality John Lloyd explores nature's various fathomable and unfathomable 'unseens' with dry wit, while drawing some amusing life parallels that leave you contemplating the importance of what lies beneath.

Golan Levin is an artist and an engineer. In this presentation from TED (the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference), he shares some of the conflicts that his two 'callings' have created and the wondrous innovations they have helped him create.

Do you know TED? TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and refers to a conference that has taken place in California every February for the past 25 years.