Beneath the headlines of the Sunday New York Times lies an untold story, patiently waiting to be edited into existence. Welcome to the remix culture.

It wasn't a mistake. That newspaper you received Friday was not some reprint from the late 90's. There was a moment last week when it seemed as if the 2004 presidential campaigns were going to have an actual debate about an important issue. Last weekend's orgy of revenge was only the latest episode in a bloodbath that has been going on for years.

Japanese women prefer a slimmer-fitting jean, and mature American women like pants that sit higher on the waist and are fuller in the hips. About one in 10 American adults are divorced or separated. We must try to achieve a level of public discourse on these issues that is simultaneously energetic and mutually respectful. These trends are just the most visible sign of how much the market ethic has come to dominate. To test this theory, stand at a cocktail party and whisper softly, "I just bought a flat-panel TV," and watch as admirers form a circle of testosterone and demand details.

What is new and troubling is the raw power that money exerts. Most mainstream companies don't like to discuss their lucrative dirty secret. The Google story is a reminder of how a slim technological advantage can reap enormous dividends in the new economy. But slim technological leads can be lost -- with devastating results.

"Everyone wants to believe in the brand." Investors should not be carried away by their nostalgia for the halcyon bubble days. They need regular infusions of managers and thinkers from other, more creative organizational cultures.

"Would you like to buy some Girl Scout crack?" Pressed to explain the changes, he said, "I'm not going to look in the rear-view mirror here." The brand, he said, "still has deep relevancy."

"At least in the sense that if you decide to obliterate it and fall in step with a lot of other people who have obliterated it, you may in fact end up looking like nothing else on earth. You may be blank."

If a crusading government tries to shut down the industry or mandate it, it won't work. The segment of the industry that refuses will simply go underground. A lot of not-so-secret factors are at play in this market. For whatever reason, electronics stores are obsessed with displaying nature shows. "The connections could be tight or loose," he added. The company's potential is enormous, but so are its risks.

Its management is, for the most part, young and inexperienced. "I'm not a Bible thumper. But if it weren't for sex, I wouldn't be in business."

"We put the fun in fundamentalism."

When he arrived, he was roundly criticized for his lack of experience. He is, for the most part, past that now. "You have to give them at least some idea of what your strategic plan is." People who know enough to pose those questions never have to ask this one: What's the ... [ Read More (1.0k in body) ]