TED is a fascinating conference. I've given two talks there over the years and serve on their advisory board. TED used to be a by-invitation conference only, but now it is open to anyone who can afford the rather outrageous registration fee. Recently, TED has begun to make their talks available to anyone. I highly recommend exploring the site: there are some truly amazing, profound talks available: TED is at ted.com.
My talk from 2003 is on "Design and Emotion" (based upon my book "Emotional Design"). My earlier talk is not available.
When TED was first started, under the direction of Richard Saul Wurman, the name TED stood for "Technology, Entertainment, Design." Now it is under the direction of Chris Anderson, who has opened up the doors and moved to a larger auditorium. The name TED is so well known now that it no longer need stand for anything except the conference and website.