Nobody cares. If TED want to rent out the brand name, they get to keep both pieces of the resulting reputation.

Additionally, I haven't noticed a substantial difference in the marketing or publishing of TEDx videos on the web. While obviously anything can go viral, one can usually only distinguish between TEDx talks and TED talks by reading the fine print.

Or by the big red 'x' on the TED logo.

One that sometimes shows up on the main TED site anyway. Regardless, people don't know what it means.

I've lost count of how many times someone has complained about an overly political, low quality talk and seen someone else come along and try to explain that it wasn't a real TED talk because it was a TEDx talk. Except on Hacker News, that person is usually just ignored. TEDx is substantially diluting the TED brand. Growth of TEDx has been far too fast and reckless.

I do care about difference between TED and TEDx. So you are by definition of word 'nobody' is wrong.

Technically correct is a way to go on website dedicated to technology, don't you think?

Not when we're talking about influence on the brand, which is what licensing a brand is about.

Not on trivial points. It's just annoying and content free.

So gross exagerrations is OK but technical nitpicking is not,right?

It wasn't a gross exaggeration. "Nobody cares" is a common English idiom meant to be understood as a casual generalization. The phrase is intended to be semantically analogous to more precise but tedious phrases such as: "a substantial and relevant, probably majority population do not care about the distinction you are making."

Yes, it is, in a casual conversation. Not on HN. By the way your verbose definition of "nobody cares" would still be a gross exaggeration as OP didn't provide any proof that a substantial, probably majority of population do not differentiate between TED and TEDx.

Do you believe that most people who watch TED talks understand and care about the distinction between TED and TEDx?

Yes, I think that most people who watched both TED and TEDx talks understand the difference. My reasons are as follows.

1. People who watch TED and TEDx are quite intelligent.

2. There are no TEDx videos on ted.com, only on subdomain http://tedxtalks.ted.com.

3. Every TEDx video has this disclaimer: This video was filmed at an independently organized TEDx event and uploaded by the organizer. To flag a video (good or bad!), use this form.

So yeah, this was a gross exaggeration.

> 1. People who watch TED and TEDx are quite intelligent.

That's what they like to think, yes.

If you're talking about acolytes who watch large numbers of TED talks then yes, most of them very likely know the difference. Many have probably even attended TEDx events. But TED talks have spread to far more casual audiences-- people who share merely share the links on twitter and facebook and have probably watched less than 10 talks in their life.

> 2. There are no TEDx videos on ted.com, only on subdomain http://tedxtalks.ted.com.

When I visit that link, I see the large TED logo in the upper left corner (with no 'x' by it). While it doesn't have the flashy video cloud thing that the main page does, the theme is identical. Additionally, I do not need to visit the site to watch the talk, TEDx talks are mostly on YouTube. This talk does not even have the splash page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDpuJXgD7Rs

Sure it says "TEDx" but how is a casual viewer supposed to know what that means? How much effort am I really going to devote to the implications of the phrase "independently organized TED event" if I'm inclined to care at all?

> 3. Every TEDx video has this disclaimer: This video was filmed at an independently organized TEDx event and uploaded by the organizer. To flag a video (good or bad!), use this form.

I'll admit, I did not notice that disclaimer without you pointing it out. I'm not sure why, the font is large enough. Maybe it's the light gray text.

> So yeah, this was a gross exaggeration.

Nobody cares.

I am always amazed at what length people are ready to go to criticize something, obviously this discussion is going nowhere.

The quality of TEDx however should make TED think twice about licensing their brand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbtl0Q81igc

Let's not forget about vortex math!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oRnhrOf0r0‎

Oh dear. The gold starts around 2 minutes in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oRnhrOf0r0#t=121

They should get Gene Ray, creator of Time Cube on TEDx next!

I think his arguments apply to the mothership, just the same.

I view the TED and TEDx talks as the same: "science-lite for people who want to be thought of as intellectuals."

Or, you know, people who aren't trained in science but are interested in it when it's presented in a language they can understand.

Also, hard science isn't all that comes out of TED (see the "E" and "D" in "TED")