Ayah Bdeir: Building blocks that blink, beep and teach

http://www.ted.com Imagine a set of electronics as easy to play with as Legos. TED Fellow Ayah Bdeir introduces littleBits, a set of simple, interchangeable blocks that make programming as simple and important a part of creativity as snapping blocks together.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate

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  Science & Technology

[Melkor Ljaci]

The point is, that by simplifying and making engineering more accesible to a much broader spectrum of people who dont have to be necessarily educated in electrotechnics or engineering can still through a user friendly interface use their creativity and sense of innovation to actualy make change and progress happen. Because lets face it, engineers have the capacity to come up with the technology, but in the hands of artists it reaches a whole new quality.

[mazdaplz]

this video proves that:

Woman Genius -> talks on tedtalksdirector

Random Attention Seeking Woman -> TedxWomen

[Spaceisprettybig]

Goddamn it TED, we don't need to hear the speakers SPIT.

[bigBadSweed]

Please combine "Little Bits" with Lego's or Kinex, so I can justify a purchase that my inner child will giggle over. Please.

[bbboyy]

3:59 with transcription: "how when i fucked response attached" lol no offence tho. great vid

[Victor Vance]

Fuck yeah love u

[Victor Vance]

More Lebanese Fuck Yeah

[caro2486]

Aya , is From Lebanon

this small country , has made around 45 inventions and discoveries in all fields of engineering , science , medicine etc..

one of which , the lebanese director of NASA , and all lebanese head of departments in NASA , like charles el Achi , georges el helou , Edgar choueiri , mostafa chahine , christa mcalauff , georges haddad , sara wehbe , the colombian rony nader of lebanese parents etc....

rover reached Mars under the direction of charles el achi

[Jens Cameron]

Had Lectron system when I was a kid (very long time ago, before PC was around). I admit littleBits have more advanced pieces, but "electronic lego" is nothing new. As far as I recall they stuck together by magnets...

[Jack Miller]

This looks really cool.

[Hewicks]

TED talks are funny, but not as funny as the audience seems to think. I could say "Blocks." and wait a few seconds and I'd get at least a handful crack up.

[rainulous]

Close, but they aren't using it for the same thing, so I doubt Apple would do anything about it.