Tech notes

Mar 15 2007 By Herb Kim, The Journal

Last week, I had the pleasure of representing the North- East at Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) 2007 in California - an annual conference billed as a "group of remarkable people that gather to exchange ideas of incalculable value".

Not much to live up to, then. Regular readers of Tech Notes may remember that at last year's conference I was fortunate enough to meet some the world's great creative icons, such as Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google).

So it was little surprise when my experience this time around began with a quick chat in the elevator with Cameron Diaz, who feared TED might all be a little too techie for her comfort.

It was business as usual up on the stage, too - in most areas. Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig told the crowd that technology is transforming pop culture. The founder of eBay shared his journey from hi-tech mogul to Hollywood producer. And a Swedish professor stuck a sword down his throat.

However, the most unexpected turn - and also the most thought-provoking and frightening - came from the most unexpected of sources.

John Doerr is Silicon Valley's most respected venture capitalist. He was an early investor in companies like Compaq, Netscape, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, Amazon.com and Google. He comes across as a bright, enthusiastic and mild-mannered Midwestern engineer.

So when he broke down in tears on stage, talking about the plight of our planet, it came as a huge shock to the system.

Doerr began his talk with the chilling revelation that he really doesn't think we humans are going to survive climate change.

He said there are times "when panic is the appropriate response" - adding that businesses have to invest more in researching better environmentally-friendly technologies, and calling on the audience to lobby Government and their colleagues.

Then, when he started talking about his hopes that we'd be able to preserve the Earth for our children, you could see he was losing it.

On one hand, we in the audience were thinking: "Boy, this is embarrassing. Pull it together man". On the other hand, we realised this is John Doerr.

He has no history of making rash claims. He speaks as openly about his failures as his success. He has one of the best track records in predicting the successes of new technologies. And you know he's done his homework.

If this guy has been so moved by the evidence and data to the point that he's crying on stage at 8.30am in front of 1,000 people, then we must all realise that the time to get green or go even greener than ever before is not `in the future'. It's right this second.

* Herb Kim is CEO of Codeworks, the North- East's centre of digital excellence.