Virginia Postrel

How much would you pay for an e-book? Amazon, Apple want to know.… More »

If you still think a standard PowerPoint presentation or, worse, a C-Span-style speech from a written text is an acceptable level of public speaking, you obviously haven't been to a recent TED conference. I thought graphic design conferences had high production values, but these 18-minute talks set a new standard for polish and sophistication. (Speakers got advance help with their presentations from Duarte Design.) Fortunately, TED gave all attendees a copy of…… More »

Bill Gates in response to a question about whether improving health in poor countries will lead to a population explosion: When the Gates Foundation started out, it emphasized "reproductive health," a.k.a. population control. (Someone once noted that you can always convince poor people that rich people have too much money and rich people that poor people have too many children.) But they soon discovered that there's a direct relationship between improving health…… More »

This year's may have been the gloomiest Davos ever, but TED maintained its usual optimism. Even the customary predictions of environmental catastrophe were accompanied by faith in activism and change. On the last day, curator Chris Anderson addressed critics who complained that the conference was ignoring the global economic crisis. His main point was to maintain long-term perspective, arguing--with a Keynes quote--that TED engages the ideas that create a better…… More »

I spent last week at TED@PalmSprings, the cheaper, more intimate (and, we PSers liked to imagine, cooler) simulcast of the famed TED conference going on in Long Beach. TED is an intense, immersive experience with a hugely varied program: 50 18-minute talks or performances, plus 36 three-minute presentations, in three and a half days--not counting pre-conference tours (I visited a windmill farm) and, at Palm Springs, two mornings of TEDDIY sessions during which…… More »