Chris Anderson: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

Citing statistical curves called long-tailed distributions because the tails are very long relative to the heads, Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, focuses on the tail, or the development in the new digital world of an infinite number of niche markets of any size that are economically viable due to falling distribution costs and in the aggregate represent significant sales. Although the author considers primarily media and entertainment companies, he also shows the long-tail effect at eBay, KitchenAid, Legos, Salesforce.com, and Google. His nine rules for successful long-tail strategies include lowering costs and thinking niche (one product, distribution method, or price does not fit all) and giving up control by sharing information and offering choices. In this excellent book, Anderson tells that the story of the long tail is really about the economics of abundance — what happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture start to disappear and everything becomes available to everyone.