TED Talks aim for wider global reach

TEDtalks used to be interesting but I stopped watching them years ago. It used to be the case that you could choose any video randomly and you would be guaranteed an interesting presentation on a topic of general interest by someone well respected in the field. These days, you often get a fairly boring talk on an esoteric subject by a nobody. Maybe there are just too many TEDtalks and nobody has time to filter through the bad ones in order to find the good ones.

M3M3M3

I think its a combination of the novelty wearing off and the format coming up against its intrinsic limitations.

Perhaps the biggest lesson that can be taken from TED is about branding. I think they are better at that than at spreading knowledge.

TED talks used to be novel and exciting, as in expect the unexpected. But now everybody and their cousin who wants to build their personal brand is told they should ask their local TED chapter for a shot at it. Result: quality went down, the unexpected got squished by the monetizing zeal. BOO.

Now if it was a 20 minute presentation by Ted (crude teddy bear Ted) it might be entertaining!

The comments from M3.. etc are valid - but - isn't it possible to have a legitimate quality independent group poll users as to their rating of the presentations? .. there must be a way .. those quality presentations need to be 'marketed' in such a way so they get to be seen by as many people as possible. Processes evolve - so let us adapt to them in such a way as to not throw out the great with the mediocre. That's my two cents/yen worth.