"People of Earth … A powerful global conversation has begun."

That is the preamble to "The ClueTrain Manifesto: The end of business as usual" (Perseus Books), written by four irreverent business writers who mock the established business community. In its first few pages, "The ClueTrain Manifesto" lays down 95 theses. Here are several:

Thesis 1: Markets are conversations.
Thesis 7: Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
Thesis 20: Companies need to realize the markets are laughing. At them.
Thesis 25: Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships.
Thesis 67: As markets, as workers, we wonder why you're not listening. You seem to be speaking a different language.
Thesis 77: You're too busy "doing business" to answer our e-mail? Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.
Thesis 95. We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.

The big idea of "The ClueTrain ...