I have been a fan of TED Talks for the past several years. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend a live local TED event, which I thoroughly enjoyed. For those unfamiliar with TED Talks, TED was started in 1984 as a one-time conference with a focus on technology, education, and design. They have since become annual events and increased its scope to include talks on science, culture, and business among other topics. Smaller, local TED events have also started to emerge. Their motto is “Ideas Worth Spreading”. TED Talks are short talks (between 10 and 15 minutes) about various topics and are usually inspiring and thought provoking.

With the growth of TED Talks, there is a rich library of talks that have been presented over the years. The TED application provides a way to access these talks from your mobile device. You can search for topics of interest or browse featured talks. There is even a feature called Surprise Me, which allows you to select the type of talk you want to hear (Funny, Informative, Inspiring, etc.) and the length of time you have to watch. It will then present you with some suggested talks to watch. The application also allows you to bookmark talks that you want to watch later or download a talk.

TED Talks are a great way to grow personally and professionally by hearing stories from others which will get you to think differently, consider new ideas, or just be inspired. This application provides a nice front-end to search and view these talks.