404, the story of a page not found
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0:01 - 0:04So what I want to try to do is tell a quick story
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0:04 - 0:07about a 404 page and a lesson that was learned as a result of it.
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0:07 - 0:10But to start it probably helps to have an understanding
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0:10 - 0:14of what a 404 page actually is.
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0:14 - 0:17The 404 page is that.
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0:17 - 0:19It's that broken experience on the Web.
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0:19 - 0:21It's effectively the default page
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0:21 - 0:25when you ask a website for something and it can't find it.
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0:25 - 0:27And it serves you the 404 page.
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0:27 - 0:32It's inherently a feeling of being broken when you go through it.
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0:32 - 0:35And I just want you to think a little bit about, remember for yourself,
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0:35 - 0:38it's annoying when you hit this thing.
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0:38 - 0:40Because it's the feeling of a broken relationship.
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0:40 - 0:43And that's where it's actually also interesting to think about,
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0:43 - 0:45where does 404 come from?
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0:45 - 0:47It's from a family of errors actually --
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0:47 - 0:49a whole set of relationship errors,
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0:49 - 0:51which, when I started digging into them,
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0:51 - 0:56it looks almost like a checklist for a sex therapist or a couples couselor.
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0:56 - 0:59You sort of get down there to the bottom and things get really dicey.
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0:59 - 1:02(Laughter)
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1:02 - 1:04Yes.
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1:04 - 1:06But these things are everywhere.
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1:06 - 1:09They're on sites big, they're on sites small.
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1:09 - 1:12This is a global experience.
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1:12 - 1:14What a 404 page tells you
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1:14 - 1:19is that you fell through the cracks.
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1:19 - 1:20And that's not a good experience
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1:20 - 1:23when you're used to experiences like this.
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1:23 - 1:24You can get on your Kinect
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1:24 - 1:26and you can have unicorns dancing
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1:26 - 1:29and rainbows spraying out of your mobile phone.
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1:29 - 1:31A 404 page is not what you're looking for.
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1:31 - 1:34You get that, and it's like a slap in the face.
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1:34 - 1:37Trying to think about how a 404 felt,
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1:37 - 1:39and it would be like if you went to Starbucks
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1:39 - 1:40and there's the guy behind the counter
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1:40 - 1:42and you're over there and there's no skim milk.
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1:42 - 1:44And you say, "Hey, could you bring the skim milk?"
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1:44 - 1:46And they walk out from behind the counter and they've got no pants on.
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1:46 - 1:49And you're like, "Oh, I didn't want to see that."
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1:49 - 1:51That's the 404 feeling.
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1:51 - 1:53(Laughter)
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1:53 - 1:55I mean, I've heard about that.
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1:55 - 1:59So where this comes into play and why this is important
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1:59 - 2:01is I head up a technology incubator,
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2:01 - 2:03and we had eight startups sitting around there.
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2:03 - 2:06And those startups are focused on what they are, not what they're not,
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2:06 - 2:08until one day Athletepath,
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2:08 - 2:11which is a website that focuses on services for extreme athletes,
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2:11 - 2:13found this video.
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2:13 - 2:16(Video) Guy: Joey!
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2:16 - 2:21Crowd: Whoa!
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2:21 - 2:24Renny Gleeson: You just ... no, he's not okay.
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2:24 - 2:28They took that video and they embedded it in their 404 page
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2:28 - 2:31and it was like a light bulb went off for everybody in the place.
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2:31 - 2:34Because finally there was a page
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2:34 - 2:37that actually felt like what it felt like to hit a 404.
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2:37 - 2:39(Laughter)
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2:39 - 2:40(Applause)
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2:40 - 2:43So this turned into a contest.
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2:43 - 2:45Dailypath that offers inspiration
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2:45 - 2:48put inspiration on their 404 page.
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2:48 - 2:51Stayhound, which helps you find pet sitters through your social network,
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2:51 - 2:53commiserated with your pet.
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2:53 - 2:55Each one of them found this.
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2:55 - 2:56It turned into a 24-hour contest.
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2:56 - 2:59At 4:04 the next day, we gave out $404 in cash.
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2:59 - 3:00And what they learned
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3:00 - 3:03was that those little things, done right, actually matter,
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3:03 - 3:06and that well-designed moments can build brands.
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3:06 - 3:07So you take a look out in the real world,
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3:07 - 3:10and the fun thing is you can actually hack these yourself.
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3:10 - 3:13You can type in an URL and put in a 404 and these will pop.
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3:13 - 3:15This is one that commiserates with you.
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3:15 - 3:17This is one that blames you.
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3:17 - 3:18This is one that I loved.
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3:18 - 3:21This is an error page,
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3:21 - 3:25but what if this error page was also an opportunity?
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3:25 - 3:27So it was a moment in time
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3:27 - 3:29where all of these startups had to sit and think
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3:29 - 3:32and got really excited about what they could be.
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3:32 - 3:34Because back to the whole relationship issue,
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3:34 - 3:36what they figured out through this exercise
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3:36 - 3:39was that a simple mistake can tell me what you're not,
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3:39 - 3:43or it can remind me of why I should love you.
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3:43 - 3:44Thank you.
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3:44 - 3:47(Applause)
- Title:
- 404, the story of a page not found
- Speaker:
- Renny Gleeson
- Description:
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Oops! Nobody wants to see the 404: Page Not Found. But as Renny Gleeson shows us, while he runs through a slideshow of creative and funny 404 pages, every error is really a chance to build a better relationship.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 04:07
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for 404, the story of a page not found | ||
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