TED's "Ideas Worth Spreading" Are Heading to E-Books

Addicted to the simple genius that is TEDTalks? The popular video lectures have helped millions around the world learn about everything from the rise of China to parenting taboos. Now the renowned clearinghouse of free knowledge and inspiration is set to make its "Ideas Worth Spreading" accessible in another format—the e-book.

According to the TED Blog, e-readers like the Kindle and iPad make it easier for information to be based on consumer wants instead of publishing company profitability margins. To that end, TEDBooks launched last week exclusively on Amazon as part of their new line of Kindle Singles books.

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Each of the books follows the TED mantra of breaking information down into short, easily digestible chunks—TEDBooks are 20,000 words or less. The short length fits the busy schedules of modern life—people want to learn, but they don't always have time to slog through a full-length, 60,000-word text. That means instead of spending your commute typing updates on Twitter or reading the Page Six gossip, you can dive into some learning.

TED curator Chris Anderson says regular TEDBooks releases are planned, and many "will come from existing TED speakers who will dig deeper into the topics initiated in their talks. Others will come from new authors with ideas the world needs to know about."

The books are downloadable for $2.99 a pop, and are readable on any device that will let you install the Kindle app—your iPad, your Blackberry, or your laptop computer.