Themes Not Business as Usual

The digital revolution has changed much more than technology, entertainment and design. It has completely transformed business -- in ways that could scarcely have been imaginable at TED's first conference, in 1984.

Chris Anderson of WIRED explores the four key stages of viable technology: setting the right price, gaining market share, displacing established technology and, finally, becoming ubiquitous. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting attention onto a product, bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. And Malcolm Gladwell comes to a fascinating, counterintuitive truth about product development through the tale of one man's quest to find the perfect pasta sauce.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page offer a peek inside the Google machine, sharing tidbits about international search patterns and the philanthropic Google Foundation project (which soon became Google.org). Jeff Skoll, founder of eBay, social entrepreneur and film financier, speaks out for media that educates, changes minds and impels us to action. And iconic businessman Richard Branson reveals some of the (surprising) motivations with which he bootstrapped his way from record shop owner to head of the Virgin empire.

Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase shares some unexpected discoveries about the way people around the world interact with cell phones -- even so far as the emotional bonds we seem to share with them. An emotional talk by John Doerr, Silicon Valley's legendary moneyman, makes the case for investing in green technology -- to save the planet and make a profit to boot. Sasa Vucinic, meanwhile, wants to spread his plan to foster new free presses -- by treating them as entrepreneurs instead of charity cases.