Kester Brewin

If you’re reading this blog post, you are almost certainly doing so on a digital device made in China. And that means you’re almost certainly doing so on a device made in Shenzhen. Don’t know where Shenzhen is? Neither did I. It’s here: View Larger Map It’s a city bigger than New York or London, [...]

I’m aware of the cult of mac dangers of sychophancy today… but also wanted to mark the passing of someone who did have a big impact on who are and how we live today, both positive and negative. This speech, given to Stanford graduates in 2005, is moving and prescient, but what I want to [...]

The times are always a-changing. No matter how much we would like the status quo to remain, it never does. The movements that are happening in the Arab world are testament to this. At a more benign level, Steve Jobs is going to die. It’s not a prediction based on his current health, just a [...]

There has been some interesting discussion around Steve Jobs’ unfortunate temporary withdrawal from Apple due to ill health. Jobs is perhaps unique in that he is a genuine figurehead – and as Apple is the world’s largest company, that’s important. If he goes, what will remain? Andy Crouch quotes Jobs speaking in his Harvard Commencement [...]

Apple – the series of talks trying to think more deeply about technology – is back this Weds with the 9th event (7:30pm, The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Road). The title is ‘Digital Obesity’ and will be a panel discussion with Simon Jenkins of ShipOfFools, Gavin O’Carrol from the Digital Health Service and Vaux’s own [...]

Connected to the previous post about Gladwell’s article on ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,’ I’m really excited about the next Apple event, which is coming up on 13th October. Dr Luke Bretherton will be leading a discussion on social media and social action, asking whether Facebook and Twitter have anything to add to community [...]

Excellent piece by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker, casting a sceptical eye over the optimistic view that social networks can and do lead to increased social action. His argument is not that they cannot have a good impact, but that the sort of impact they might have is very different from the hard work [...]

Last night’s Apple event produced a very good discussion surrounding issues of institutional religion and what it means to move beyond relational networks into intentional gatherings. The audio from the event – which was a panel consisting of me, Jonny, Maggi and Ian plus great comment from the floor – is available for free here. [...]

To coincide with the arrival of the Pope on his (now) controversial visit, Apple this month is looking at institutional religion, and asking whether its day is done as an ‘organisational technology.’ I’m really excited about the discussions we’ll be having. Jonny Baker, Ian Mobsby, Maggi Dawn and I will be discussing as a panel [...]

Apple, the series of events I’ve been organising with some others, is back for another three dates. The idea behind Apple is simple: to get theology to engage with technology and social process. We’ve covered diverse ground such as social networks, the Large Hadron Collider, grey ecology, Heidegger and gadgetry. With this new series – [...]