I am getting really behind on posting book posts (I have about five more books to post about), but then again I am getting behind on posting in general.
I picked up this book based on the stellar reviews I kept reading on blogs and based on the initial article by Chris Anderson that coined the term “The Long Tail”. I was not disappointed. I half expected the book to cover the initial idea and then expound on how your business can take advantage of it for the next 200 pages. Instead this book is more of an economics book, examining the business models of Amazon, Rhapsody, Netflix, and others and how they have exploited the long tail evolution.
One thing I find interesting is that all of these companies who share the focus of the book really only take advantage of the first part of the long tail, there is a much longer tail that continues past the most obscure book or song available from Amazon, Rhapsody, or Netflix. I think the next revolution will be in these areas. Netflix may stock 65,000 DVDs, but that neglects all the user-created (youtube, etc) content, or the content in the public domain, or the 50 years of archived TV footage. For every song on Rhapsody there are probably 100 more around from un-signed artists or live performances. I think this is where the future of The Long Tail is going, and while these original companies will thrive for the next 5 years they better wake up to the rest of the tail if they want to survive. Mr. Anderson calls the first type of company (Amazon, Netflix, etc) a Hybrid retailer because it can stock much more than a Target or Sam Goody but it can’t compete with what he calls the Pure Digital Retailers who have no limit to what they can offer.
If you haven’t already be sure and subscribe to Anderson’s blog.
-James
