Chris Anderson about global connectivity and the future of children

When covering an extraordinary gifted person or a brilliant invention, we often include a video presentation from an influential annual conference that attracts great minds who have “ideas worth spreading”. For many, the; TED (Technology Entertainment Design) Conference, is the highlight of the year.

The private not-for-profit foundation of Chris Anderson – born in Pakistan, Oxford-graduate and magazines magnate – adopted the conference in 2002 and Anderson became curator.

At Le Web, he shared his motivation for the free online videos of TED presentations. Anderson: “People like Swedish professor Hans Rosling are brilliant. If you sat down with them, you’d learn a lot. Thanks to the free videos, everybody can hear them speak. And you know what? People online responded the same way as people off line. That means the best teachers can become global rock stars”.

These rock stars might start a revolution, considering the fact that everybody whose connected to the web will be able to learn from the most inspiring people of the world. This also goes for kids in developing countries. Anderson showed a picture of a couple kids in Pakistan. He notes that the parents of these kids – who are as old as he is – didn’t had the opportunity to learn. But the people who were born the last couple of years, will have a cell phone that’s “more powerful than the computer you’re looking at right now”.

Anderson: “Will they look at games, violence, and pornography? Or will they look at information that might take them out of poverty? If you’re working on such a service, I salute you. What you’re doing is a gift of love to these children.”