Secrets inside Silicon Valley

Global power without responsibility?

The last time I was in San Francisco, the city was six months away from the devastating earthquake of 1989. No one saw it coming and yet everyone expected it, as if the ‘big one’ was something to be both anticipated but never experienced. Not that 1989 was the big one in the end, but it was big enough to take dozens of lives and leave the city deeply shaken, the rebuilding effort lasting for decades. Yet in those pre-quake days, the chatter was all about possibility: the feeling that something could happen. Silicon Valley today has that same anticipatory vibe. 

Silicon Valley, Cupertino, CA, USA – June 25, 2018: Aerial photo of Apple Park

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In the neighbourhood: Indonesia

None of us can say that we have seen Indonesia, although a group of us from Australia have just returned from an immersive visit here. It was a glimpse, maybe, into a kaleidoscope on a particular week in a particular year: each tiny piece of life telling a reflected and vibrant story, together seeming to form a discernable and mesmerising pattern. Yet look again in just a second and you will see something completely different.

Jakarta, Indonesia: rush hour

To generalise from such a brief insight might be foolish, yet not to describe the wonder of being there, dismissive.

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