There’s no doubt that life has reached a level of speed where communication is coming at us in unprecedented and almost unmanageable volumes. Web and mobile nets give the literati and twitterati constant access to information — and the ability to create it — that we could only dream about ten years ago.

Changes that used to take generations — economic cycles, cultural shifts, mass migrations, changes in the structures of institutions — now unwind in years. Since 2000, we have experienced three economic bubbles (dotcom, property and credit), three market crashes, devastating terrorist attacks, two wars and a global influenza pandemic.

Consumer products and services (iPod, games consoles, YouTube, Twitter, blogs) that historically might have appeared once every five or more years roll out within months. In what seems like weeks, one giant industry (recorded music) has been utterly transformed, another (the 250-year-old newspaper business) is facing an uncertain future and half-a-dozen more (including magazine publishing, network television, book publishing) are d