Started this one last fall after having read the 'Makers' book by the same author. Finished it up in the last couple of days. The information is interesting and evident in our day to day lives. The book was published in 2006 which seems recent, yet some of the references and examples are already outdated or feel irrelevant. However, this reinforces the point of how much impact and the speed at which the internet has changed the business world, our expectations and culture.

While an older book, somewhat predictive of the future of consumer choices and markets in the internet age. Most of Chris' own predictions turned out to be false, but those he quoted were just so beautifully, sadly right.

Long-winded throughout the middle, this book falls into the classic case of restating its own conjecture over and over again. It's exhausting and somewhat impressive just how many different ways someone can say the same thing with a new anecdote that feels remarkably similar to the previous one.

With some interesting nods towards Pareto and others, The Long Tail wants to be academic, but it often feels like a father orating the same aphorism over and over again during the family vacation.

Undeva la mijlocul cartii trageam de mine sa o termin cat mai repede. Ceva se intampla acolo. Poate prea multe exemple din industria de entertainment, muzica si film, se simte o usoara repetitie pe alocuri.

"Coada lunga" este genul de carte care prezinta o idee principala, o parte teoretica, multe studii de caz si cateva recomandari despre cum sa actionezi in contextul prezentat. Cam mult despre o idee relativ simpla.

Ca este o coada lunga sau ca pur si simplu internetul este un cu totul alt animal si ca raportul lui Pareto de 80/20 nu se aplica atunci cand o tehnologie noua schimba radical piata, permitand costuri foarte mici pentru prezentarea produselor, acoperirea unei suprafete tehnic nelimitate si alimentata de nenumarate recenzii, comparatia aceasta intre analogic si online (dincolo de digital) mi se pare in sine mai putin importanta.

Dat fiind ca este o carte publicata in 2006 suna pe alocuri putin arhaic. Autorul vorbeste,printre altele, despre comertul cu dvd-uri, un netflix inca in fasa, ebay, inceputurile amazon si google, iar facebook, instagram, aplicatiile mobile abia se conturau la orizont, filtrele de cautare sunt niste geniale, iar comertul online insuma abia 10% din piata.

Dincolo de notiunile teoretice puteti considera studiile de caz drept niste lectii de istorie din evolutia internetului si apreciez efortul autorului. Putini isi imaginau ce avant va avea internetul si cat de radical se va schimba tot, iar ceea ce parea revolutionar in 2006 acum este acceptat ca normal si integrat seamless in vietile noastre.

How remarkable that this came out in 2006. It predicts the digital economy of today pretty well - laying the groundwork for Spotify, Etsy, Substack, and the rise of the influencer. He even gets within a hair's breadth of Ben Thompson's 'Aggregation theory', nine years before BT did.

Of course it shows its age too. Facebook is nowhere to be found, and Myspace still commands the author's attention. But his fundamentals remain solid (time for a revised and updated edition?)

Filing it under, "wish I had read this when it was released".

Anderson argues that mass culture is going the way of the dinosaurs. The future is in customization and matching buyers and sellers through the internet, thus saving valuable shelf space.

Why I started this book: I'm listening to as many Professional titles as I can during my free trial of Scribd.

Why I finished it: Interesting but dated. Written in 2004, the Blockbuster video vs. Netflix battle has been decided, and the iPod was replaced with the iPhone in 2007. But the main idea that markets are fragmenting and that a niche market can be profitable still applies.

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 recommendations / reviews / personally-tailored content identifiers are out there. A sea change is underway.

* Couldn't finish
** I had nothing else to do
*** Passed the time, would be **** for genre / author fans
**** Everyone could enjoy this book
***** Everyone should read this book, I'll read it again

[written in 2006]

I’m sitting here at my computer in Homer, writing this review in email, fixing to send it off to Barbara in Scottsdale, for publication in either the eNews or the Poisoned Pen newsletter, to be read by subscribers all over the nation and the world.  And suddenly I realize, Barbara is obeying one of the dictums of the Long Tail -- she’s letting the customers do the work.  I’m in the middle of a marketing revolution of which I could only see some parts some of the time. 

Now that I can see them all and Anderson has explained the cause and effect of them so well, it seems so simple and so obvious.  Down with bestseller thinking!  Trust the market to do your job!  Understand the power of the free!  Order this book now, especially if you are connected in any way to retail sales.  Which, let’s face it, we all are.  I particularly love the Kitchen Aide and the Lego stories.

You know a book (or in this case, the article the book is based on) is a big deal when a decade later, everyone assumes everyone always knew what the books discovered. In this case, writing in the mid-aughts, Anderson explains how the internet, distributed production, and changing tastes are transforming retail via the "long tail" phenomenon. Clearly and concisely written and persuasive - why not, almost everything he predicted came to pass over the following decade. Almost quaintly optimistic at times, and its fun reading his breathless praise for now-defunct web sites, but also a useful framework for helping understand why companies like Amazon came along at just the right time.

Though I read the book only recently, and lot of stuff is dated, most of his ideas hold pretty solid - in a way, that is the long tail of his ideas - they continue to be as relevant as before.

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.

The idea is simple and this business model could prosper thanks to the social network/internet.
20/80 fits in all models which is astonishingly coincidence. I think just few examples could have explain perfectly about the long tail. This reminds me of the game business on cell phone, unlike standard game business that you need a strong structure of game frames, cell phone APP provides simple and time killing games such as Angry Bird. Sugar crush..etc. They are the successfully example of long tail (Niche market ) which actually dominated even more public than real game world.

This is a good introduction to the idea of long tail. The book seems dated from the examples cited. The writer has added some clarifications in the end but I believe there is need for a significant overhaul. The idea of long tail has exploded in the internet era and needs more focus. This is definitely a good starting point.