I thought the geek session--liquid metal batteries, DARPA hummingbird robots--was strong. And some individual speeches were just great to watch, particularly in the design session (Chip Kidd, Hockenberry.) The first day had a theme of reason versus what we really do that was kind of subtle (maybe because it was emergent?) but interesting.

My favorite talk was probably Billy Collins, just because I love poetry, and there's not enough of it in all of our lives.

blog.ted.com

The video isn't up yet, but here are some other videos of Billy reading: bit.ly

But for pure TEDness, the mix of new information, passion, teaching, and great presentation skills, I'd say that my favorite was Donald Sadoway's talk on liquid metal batteries.

blog.ted.com

I loved the way he used the blackboard for a simple but effective diagram of how the batteries work, I loved his exhortation to scientists to work on hard problems to advance knowledge and not just their career, I loved the way he *taught* as he explained his invention. And I loved the invention itself: grid-scale battery storage using high-temperature liquid metal batteries could be a revolution in our ability to store intermittent renewable energy for later re-use.

For me, the flying robots, and Billy Collins, because a) flying robots, you know? and b) when I looked through the list of speakers for the Collins session, I was all like "Whatever for the poet", and he was just terrific.

Ev forgot to ask the snarky question (remember, after narcissism, complaining is the #2 draw for new social tools...) but the talk from the woman building the from-scratch city in South Africa was like a parody of every discredited bit of urban planning done in the last century. To her observation "We're going to take every thing we've learned about building cities", the obvious reply is "Everything we've learned says 'Don't start from scratch.'

I liked Billy Collins a lot, and I found the book cover designer highly entertaining. It's interesting to note that while TED talks are on average potentially more entertaining for mass audiences nowadays, they are not as technical as they used to be and I feel i am not actually learning as much as I used to. It used to feel like I was sitting in on 100 different classes in majors I knew nothing about. Now I think I go more for the community and the general inspiration around thinking big.

btw, what i dislike the most about TED now is that even after 4 days of hanging out, I still don't run into some people that I know are there. Tim, Clay, I don't think I spotted either of you guys even once! The sheer scale leads to lots of partitioning.. too many private dinners, not enough crown and anchor. Some folks are thinking about organizing a simulcast in monterey starting in 2014 if you guys are interested. Calling it InsTED. I have mixed feelings about it.

+James - I totally agree about the size. I liked it way better in Monterey. And regarding the talks not being as in-depth, I totally agree. They are really produced for the videos rather than for the people in attendance, with an emphasis on show over substance.

That being said, the best of the talks still really are excellent, and really do teach something. For example, in the quadrotor demo, I loved the way Vijay Kumar took the time to explain pitch and yaw as well as the more advanced sensor techniques and algorithms. He wasn't just doing a "Wow! Cool!" demo, but using it to teach.

Also agreed that many of the talks are leveled down. I remember some biology-related talks from past TEDs that really took people into some of the tougher points needed to understand what they were seeing. On the other hand, there are fewer talks from self-realization gurus. And the Chip Kidd talk was a great way to talk about the actual process of book design while letting the personality of the speaker shine.

I should add that I missed most of this year's TED. I was there only Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday morning's TEDU talks), and on the two days I was there, I missed some sessions while helping Jen Pahlka rehearse. (Boy, do they put speakers through the prep-wringer these days!)

So I'd love an actual list of sessions that are worth watching on video.

My list from the ones I saw include Billy Collins, Vijay Kumar, Donald Sadoway, and Jen Pahlka.

Ah yes, Jen Pahika's talk was good!

I think while TED content has changed, it is not necessarily worse...just different. If the content is more appealing/accessible to way more people, it might be adding more value to the world (albeit at the expense of the few who liked it more before). I admit I initially grumbled a lot about it (and still do sometimes) but I also know I'm not the center of the universe and that the onus is upon me to adapt to new TED, not the other way around.

I missed a bunch of talks, because I had to come late and leave early (I know, bad TED manners). But from what I saw I really liked Jen Pahlka's talk for its focus on a problem that mattered with a new an interesting solution.

I also thought James Hanson's talk was powerful and important.

And for sheer fun, Reggie Watts kicked butt.