Companies are reshaping our society. It is not a new phenomenon, but
the scope and speed of their impact are faster than ever. In
19th-century England, canal builders and railway engineers recast the
demographic landscape, facilitating industrialisation, connecting
faraway places and enabling ideas to travel too.
In the 20th
century, airlines took up the baton, carrying goods, people, ideas and
diseases further afield. Today, the most obvious shifts relate to
electronic communications technology.