A Great TED Video

I have found a video that I am passionate about. It is by a TED speaker, and if you don't know anything about TED, you should make it a point to learn more. 

The video has absolutely nothing to do with Lego at all, but more about the internet community. How groups of people with similar interests, stories, experiences and desires connect on the internet using things like blogs, message boards and video sharing web sites. In fact, it's about you and the reason you read Tinkernology, The NXTStep, NXTasy and all the other blogs. Why we spend so much time watching YouTube and flipping thru Flickr craving cool images.

It’s because we are in a new information revolution. We now share information freely and immediately. Where we don’t depend on Hollywood and publishers to feed us the information that they think we want, but where we go out and find very specific information with few clicks of the mouse. We don’t look at pictures and read text so much anymore, but we now watch video.

But what makes this revolution so special is that everyone has a voice. The teachers and speakers are us.  Anyone can start a blog, anyone can post a video. Heck, even I have found a voice. TED has named it “Crowd Accelerated Innovation” and it will be a powerful part of our lives. It is why 2% of all videos on YouTube are Lego related. We are all sharing ideas and innovation.

I can say personally that blogs and YouTube have had dramatic influence on my creations. Ten years ago I often struggled with just coming up with a project to build. Today I struggle with which one to build next and it is because I have found so much inspiration on the web, not so much from “big contributors” but from you and the other people who post pictures, video and stories on the web. It’s absolutely powerful. Almost utopian.

It’s a long video, but it’s very interesting. It’s twenty two minutes long. The last four minutes are a Rolex commercial, so the good stuff is only about eighteen minutes long