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A word about Big Ideas and Themes — The architecture of Big Think

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Themes are the seven broad umbrellas under which we organize the hundreds of big ideas that populate Big Think. They include New World Order, Earth and Beyond, 21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.

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Transcript

David Pogue: There’s one called Sony. I follow them all, you know?

My mission in the [New York Times] column is to present what’s new and to put it in context; so the first, the best, the cheapest, a new approach of doing something. These are always things that get my attention and my editor’s attention.

And then why it’s significant, if it’s significant. That’s the other part that every column is supposed to answer. So how is it different from what came before, what new trend?

I recently reviewed the world’s first OLED television. It comes from Sony. It’s an 11-inch screen, the towering power of a shoebox lid, but it’s the most beautiful picture you’ve ever seen.

It’s not like looking out a window; it’s like looking out a window with the glass removed. You feel like you can touch what’s on the screen and it costs 25 hundred dollars. And everyone’s like, “Why would you review that? What are you, some kind of rich guy? You know, none of us can afford that.”

But that’s not the point. The point is this thing is going to wipe out plasma and LCD. It is. And better to know that now. Better to know that this was the moment when the next generation screen technology debuted.

Recorded on May 15, 2008