First, I would like to mention that in honor of last week’s Earth Day, I will be featuring Green products and videos to help in spire the designer and consumer alike. Most of the videos are from the TED conference held in Monterey. If you are not familiar with the TED conference, then definitely find out what it’s about because it’s incredibly inspirational.

One of the most inspirational speakers for me is inventor and MIT professor Amy Smith. Her inventions stem from a completely different realm of possibilities that are more boosted by science fiction fans. Here focus is firmly low tech. But in the vast majority of the world, low tech solutions are often the best solutions. Her base design criteria for her projects always seem to be: does it solve a huge problem? Does it solve a problem for very little money? Does it solve the problem with very little technical skill or equipment? It’s really amazing what Amy Smith comes up with when restricted to these rules.