book data
1,114 ratings,
3.80
average rating, 214 reviews
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published
May 3rd 2007
(first published 2006)
by Random House Business Books
binding
Paperback, 256 pages
isbn
1844138518
(isbn13: 9781844138517)
description
The New York Times bestseller that introduced the business world to a future that's already here--now in paperback with a new chapter about Long Tail ...more
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avg 3.80
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in September, 2007
Interesting Tidbits
- Three forces need to create the long tail:
1. democratize production: give average people the ability to create quality content (movies, music, blogs)
2. democratize distribution: technology to aggregate *all* the content in a genre (Amazon, Netflix, iTunes)
3. Connect Supply and Demand: filters to help people find the niche's they are interested in (Google, recommendations, best-seller lists)
- One quarter of Amazon's sales come from boo...more
- Three forces need to create the long tail:
1. democratize production: give average people the ability to create quality content (movies, music, blogs)
2. democratize distribution: technology to aggregate *all* the content in a genre (Amazon, Netflix, iTunes)
3. Connect Supply and Demand: filters to help people find the niche's they are interested in (Google, recommendations, best-seller lists)
- One quarter of Amazon's sales come from boo...more
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This book is an exploration of how niche markets are on the rise courtesy of better distribution. And that's a gross summary. Much discussion is given to the rise of the digital world and how it's expanded the marketplace so that there can be a Long Tail Distribution (for you statistics nerds out there)--- beyond the major hits, you can continue to sell (for example) less popular items, and lots of them. There are markets within markets.
A very conversationally written book, by the...more
A very conversationally written book, by the...more
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Read in January, 1998
I heard a clip on this book on NPR back in August and have had wanted to read this book for sometime. When I first heard about this book, we were having a conflict with one of our e-commerce customers. There SKU base kept growing and my boss kept saying they did not control their inventory. Well, here is proof positive that they did know what they were doing. The book is written by an editor of Wired magazine. The basic premise is that with infinite variety and reduced (and in many case...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone with internet experience
One of the most interesting non-fiction books I've ever read. Sort of a combination of economics, technology, and culture. Anderson presents compelling arguments and data to identify, examine and extrapolate on a clear inflection point in the macro environment today. Tools of production are more readily available (think desktop publishing, blogging, and digital video), distribution is cheaper and more widely available (think Netflix, iTunes or Amazon v bricks-n-mortar), and a wide range of recom...more
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In The Long Tail, Chris Anderson offers a visionary look at the future of business and common culture. The long-tail phenomenon, he argues, will "re-shape our understanding of what people actually want to watch" (or read, etc.). While Anderson presents a fascinating idea backed by thoughtful (if repetitive) analysis, many critics questioned just how greatly the niche market will rework our common popular culture. Anderson convinced most reviewers in his discussion of Internet media sal
...more
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This is one of the best distillations of the trends in business and culture that the Internet has given rise to in the last 15 years. Anderson's basic thesis is that the instantaneous transmission of ideas and thoughts that the Internet allows has given rise to powerful niche cultures that are becoming as lucrative and pervasive as that which we would call mainstream culture. Music and books have been the most obvious beneficiaries of this, but any culture or product can find an audience on the ...more
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Read in May, 2009
Chris Anderson's thesis -- market niches are taking over for mainstream cultural hits -- has been quickly reaching a crescendo since this book was published in 2006. Through this book and his blog by the same title, Anderson, editor of Wired, writes and explains the history of mass-market consumption in the 20th century and the seismic shift to personal consumption in the 21st century with ease. His thoughts and conclusions are hard to refute. To get a glimpse as to why the newspaper industry i...more
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Read in June, 2009
Review:
Summary:
The Internet has ended the economics of scarcity by cheaply enabling the distribution and acquisition of niche items.
Example:
Read:
The Wired article, and then just Chapter 15: The long tail of marketing from this book.
Improvements:
Wish Anderson talked about differentiating between long tail-industries and non-long tail-industries, and how to boost long tails when there should be one but there isn't. Also, what a worl...more
Summary:
The Internet has ended the economics of scarcity by cheaply enabling the distribution and acquisition of niche items.
Example:
Read:
The Wired article, and then just Chapter 15: The long tail of marketing from this book.
Improvements:
Wish Anderson talked about differentiating between long tail-industries and non-long tail-industries, and how to boost long tails when there should be one but there isn't. Also, what a worl...more
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Chris Anderson's book can be summarized by saying that the consumer retail market these days is driven more by a bottom-up movement (what he calls "post-filters") than by top-down factors ("pre-filters"). The idea can also be synthesized by saying that "hits" are no longer as big as they once were because they now compete with individuals with louder voices.
For example, during its most popular seasons, "I Love Lucy" was watched by 70 percent o...more
For example, during its most popular seasons, "I Love Lucy" was watched by 70 percent o...more
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Read in January, 2009
This book is hands down one of the most fascinating and enlightening books about the emerging new business model I've ever read. It's written by the editor of Wired magazine, and he also has a blog, both of which I recommend as well.
The general idea of The Long Tail is that there is a lot more business to be done past the point where traditional business models cut off the tail for sales and services, especially in the age of the internet. Long tail business models mean more varie...more
The general idea of The Long Tail is that there is a lot more business to be done past the point where traditional business models cut off the tail for sales and services, especially in the age of the internet. Long tail business models mean more varie...more
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Read in June, 2009
I give up...I can't take any more of this horribly boring book. My economics textbook keeps my interest better than this, which is extremely sad. I'm giving it two stars instead of one only because it had a few good tidbits of information regarding the evolution of the music and publishing industries (there was some interesting stuff about things such as Myspace and Lulu that I hadn't heard before). None the less, this is another book about an idea that probably made a fascinating article in a m...more
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Read in December, 2008
Interesting theory, but the book is incredibly repetitive. The entire thing is made up of variations on the same handful of examples with a sprinkling of interesting insights thrown in for good measure. So this theory was originally discussed/explained in an article in Wired Magazine? That might have been sufficient. Not sure there was enough new material or even supporting "research" to justify a whole book. Even a 225 page book.
Best parts were when the author expands bey...more
Best parts were when the author expands bey...more
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Read in September, 2008
I resisted reading this book for a while, only because everybody else was reading it and talking about and making it part of their personal lexicons. But then I read and really, really grooved on an article Chris wrote (which is the basis of his next book). And I figured I couldn't hold off anymore. And it's really a terrific book. He lays out a whole new way of looking at markets, in light of our current technological age. And I'm guessing that even people who haven't read it are influence...more
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Read in December, 2008
First rate explanation of the new internet culture. Chris Anderson never bores and gives numerous examples on why "choice" is how businesses increase share. Personally I've wondered if too much choice is restrictive. For example, weeding through my music collection and am never satisfied whenever I tried to compile a mix CD. Too many choices. I should use this song, but what about that song..or that one? Per Anderson's thesis it's partially the tools that free us. Search engines, ...more
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An excellent book on how the internet makes it possible for businesses to make money selling small quantities of a large number of items. This is especially true of digital products (iTunes, NetFlix, audiobooksellers), but applies also to products that can be ordered at short notice (Amazon), products that can be PRODUCED at short notice (Print-on-Demand) and products that are being sold in quantities as little as ONE (eBay).
One of the most compelling arguments Anderson uses is that ...more
One of the most compelling arguments Anderson uses is that ...more
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Read in November, 2008
I made it through! Not just the regular book, but the extended version. This is a feat primarily because it's a business book. And business books are really hard for me to read. It was about 250 pages, so I'm pretty excited.
I had to read it. I wasn't given a choice if I want to be relevant with what I do for a living, and keep up with a fundamental understanding of the vernacular used in my industry daily.
What I found was very interesting and insightful. I'm happy I...more
I had to read it. I wasn't given a choice if I want to be relevant with what I do for a living, and keep up with a fundamental understanding of the vernacular used in my industry daily.
What I found was very interesting and insightful. I'm happy I...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who's ever bought stuff online
An excellent and thought provoking book for anyone interested in the any of the following fields: culture, the internet, retail business models, consumption (as in, that large part of national income). Alternatively, one of those books you can secretly read to powerfully boost your knowledge of the best and coolest sites on the web, thereby impressing your friends. No, but seriously, Anderson makes many excellent observations about how the internet has changed consumer behavior, which you immedi...more
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The Long Tail, as a concept, is one of those fundamental world forces that I barely begin to understand. Here's a stab at a concise definition of the concept, from Clay Shirky in 2003:
"For my part, when I used the term in "Powerlaws, Weblogs, and Inequality", I didn't think of it as a coinage at all -- linear distributions have heads and tails and the weblog tail is long and flat....Chris and I and lots of other people use the phrase to describe a particular kind of dist...more
"For my part, when I used the term in "Powerlaws, Weblogs, and Inequality", I didn't think of it as a coinage at all -- linear distributions have heads and tails and the weblog tail is long and flat....Chris and I and lots of other people use the phrase to describe a particular kind of dist...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who wants to understand some of the ways the Web is profoundly changing the world.
The Web is enabling the proliferation of content and creative products from niche sources that never have been able to make it through the editorial or marketing processes, though often/usually/maybe??? with good reason. But the "hits," the music, the books, the art, the products that claim a major market share are only a small segment of the range of content that is really out there. Much of the content and products is crap, but there is occasional worth, occasional art, occasional in...more
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The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Chris Anderson
Hyperion
According to Anderson, those who read this book grasp that was new efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are changing the definition of what was commercially viable across the board. The best way to describe these forces is that they are turning unprofitable customers, products, and markets into profitable ones.” Therefore, the story of the Long Tail is really ab...more
Chris Anderson
Hyperion
According to Anderson, those who read this book grasp that was new efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are changing the definition of what was commercially viable across the board. The best way to describe these forces is that they are turning unprofitable customers, products, and markets into profitable ones.” Therefore, the story of the Long Tail is really ab...more
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