The long tail really describe what happen in the industry when the internet open the door for niches. Now industry not only serve the majorities but also that tiny little fragments spread across to the end of the tail...and that is one hell of a long tail we got there.

one of the most important guides to the dotcom econ - although after a while you might get tired of being told of the same thing over and over again (esp Wired readers might find it annoying of being told what they've discovered a long time ago) each of the stories page after page are another nail on the coffin - and most of us down here in ANALOG INDONESIA with rolling blackouts (wiping out your lifetime of data in seconds) can just dream away. a must-read for non-practitioners, and a good confirmation for us who has an online bookstore... But then, in a fully digital life that's analyzed here, scarcity is a thing in the past. While "scarcity" is the center of "economy" as a discipline. So what would happen if scarcity is irrelevant? THERE are also two bonus revelations: DEATH OF DEWEY, the decimal system used by libraries to list & store their books collections - NOW we just type any subject/author/booktitle, like GOODREADS here, and we'll find the book - even tho' we don't even know it (a title) exists yet. Not only it renders Dewey obsolete, it will also EXPAND the universe of subject selections of the extremely provincial and limited Dewey (Dewey didn't list Islam and Hindu as part of its Religion subject, ignorant to the fact that a large part of earth's population subscribe to these two religions). More choices ARE GOOD, not paralyzing - as long as we got good selections of more choices, and assistance on getting these good recommendations (see the MIT lady's column) - for example: after the digital world offer more choices for couples, the wedding planner profession grows - where availability and convenience equal more sales. DOUBLE EFFECT of digital search: shorten search + increase sales/grow market.
Another phenomenon CA presents is "democratization of production tools" resulting in an explosion of works plus distribution channels, subcultures ("microcultures") grow, the "mass" gets less massified.. is this risking nations' disintegration? CA's optimistic that these are only extending our network's power, strengthens the bonds between us and our friends, sharing music/content, even tho' we do "egocasting" (pursuit of individual personal taste enabled by TiVo, iPods) - there's no statistics to back this optimism, tho'.. at least mainstream TV producers & daily editors should learn fast; "The Audience is the Network," summarized JibJab's guru Spiradellis, hence the phenomena of YouTube/Google Video, also blogger v. old-school journalism (see Technorati's blog prominence chart, pg 187) - if you don't have time to read the whole book (beware of the Indonesian version, they delete portions of the book - maybe because they can't find the perfect translation!!) read the 9 rules of Long Tail towards the end of the book.

The book was very well organised, and filled with case studies. I think its an essential read for those who plan on getting more involved in e-commerce in general. It highlights the fundamental changes to retail the 'tail' brings, and explains in depth what the drivers are. Some of the case studies are over emphasised, and I would have loved for more examples extending beyond digital goods that this can be applicable to!

Quaint if not entirely antiquated. Time, a mere 13 years, has shown that Anderson was on to something but that his optimism about a more open market place didn’t take into account that, yes, they were, and are, absolutely in it for the money and no matter how much they who are the principal share holders in the likes of Google and Amazon and Salesforce have, that’s no reason not to raise the price and make more in their competition to be the richest on the planet and have the showiest campus. And that approach tends to suppress rather than extend the Long Tail.