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The 4 Best Application Development TED Talks for Practitioners

The 4 Best Application Development TED Talks for Practitioners

The 4 Best Application Development TED Talks for Practitioners

The editors at Solutions Review curated this list of the best application development TED talks for practitioners in the field.

TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers in a variety of verticals. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from business to technology to global issues — in more than 110 languages. TED is building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s top thinkers, and their library of videos is expansive and rapidly growing.

Solutions Review has curated this list of application development TED talks to watch if you are a practitioner in the field. Talks were selected based on relevance, ability to add business value, and individual speaker expertise. We’ve also curated TED talk lists for topics like marketing and AI/ML.

The mind behind Linux — Linus Torvalds | TED2016

Linus Torvalds transformed technology twice — first with the Linux kernel, which helps power the Internet, and again with Git, the source code management system used by developers worldwide. In a rare interview with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Torvalds discusses with remarkable openness the personality traits that prompted his unique philosophy of work, engineering and life. “I am not a visionary, I’m an engineer,” Torvalds says. “I’m perfectly happy with all the people who are walking around and just staring at the clouds … but I’m looking at the ground, and I want to fix the pothole that’s right in front of me before I fall in.”

In 1991, Linus Torvalds wrote an operating system kernel and shared it with independent programmers. The system that they fleshed out and released in 1994, known as Linux, stood out due to its utility, efficiency, and the collaboration of its community. Linux runs on the servers of Amazon, Google, and a large part of the connected world. Torvalds continues to inspire open-source projects worldwide, and has been instrumental in affecting the modern economy of the world.

A delightful way to teach kids about computers — Linda Liukas | TEDxCERN

Computer code is the next universal language, and its syntax will be limited only by the imaginations of the next generation of programmers. Linda Liukas is helping to educate problem-solving kids, encouraging them to see computers not as mechanical, boring and complicated but as colorful, expressive machines meant to be tinkered with. In this talk, she invites us to imagine a world where the Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow grow up to be optimistic and brave about technology and use it to create a new world that is wonderful, whimsical and a tiny bit weird.

Linda Liukas is a programmer, storyteller, and illustrator. Her children’s book, “Hello Ruby,” is a whimsical and creative way for young people to learn about technology, computing, and coding. Liukas founded Rails Girls, which has organized workshops in over 230 cities, teaching the basics of programming to more than 10,000 women. Liukas previously worked at Codecademy, and in 2013 won the Ruby Hero prize and was named the Digital Champion of Finland by the EU Commissioner for Digital Agenda.

The best computer interface? Maybe … your hands — James Patten | TED Fellows Retreat 2013

“The computer is an incredibly powerful means of creative expression,” says designer and TED Fellow James Patten. But right now, we interact with computers, mainly, by typing and tapping. In this nifty talk and demo, Patten imagines a more visceral, physical way to bring your thoughts and ideas to life in the digital world, taking the computer interface off the screen and putting it into your hands.

James Patten is an interaction designer, inventor, and visual artist working at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds. He is a TED Fellow and the founder and principal of the design firm Patten Studio, where his clients have included Björk, Barneys New York, General Electric, Steelcase, and Autodesk. Patten’s work has been exhibited or performed in venues such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, and his work has been recognized in several international design competitions including the International Design Magazine’s Annual Design Review, and the International Design Excellence Awards.

How Arduino is open-sourcing imagination — Massimo Banzi | TEDGlobal 2012

Massimo Banzi helped invent the Arduino, a tiny, easy-to-use open-source microcontroller that’s inspired thousands of people around the world to make the coolest things they can imagine — from toys to satellite gear. Because, as he says, “You don’t need anyone’s permission to make something great.”

In 2005, Massimo Banzi created the Arduino microcontroller, a small, cheap programmable computer, bringing interactive technology to the masses. With a variety of sensors, the Arduino is versatile and easy to use. Since its inception, the device has popped up in projects as varied as an exhibit on brains at the American Museum of Natural History, to a DIY kit that sends a Tweet when your houseplant needs water.

Anna Birna Turner

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