The Long Tail (Chapters 1-7)

First Thoughts

Please don’t let *NSYNC’s album hold the record as the fastest-selling album ever.    

I remember the Sear’s Wish Book fondly. 

Here are a few thoughts I had after reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail.

Cultural Diversity

I think the greatest aspect of the long tail is the choice and diversity that it makes room for.  Everyone should be a happier consumer, as a result of the long tail’s ability to connect niche demand with niche supply.  Example: Those out of print books that could never be found for research are again within reach thanks to on-line resellers or print on demand services.   

What is the long tail?  I think Chris Anderson is describing the phenomenon that is created by the intersection of technology, internet, and Pro-Am efforts which result in a new market place.  A market place that allows for the following:

• High selling products; not as high as before the long tail
• Low selling products; those located in the tail
• Niche markets; the end of the solely hit-driven culture 

Mark Cuban’s blog would argue that no one really wants their product to be in the tail.  Instead, the ultimate goal is to be in the head and make millions.  Mark further questions, where the head begins and how can a producer ensure that he/she gets in the head.  Hmm… I think Mark is missing the best advantages of the long tail, diversity and availability in the long run.

Questions

Chris Anderson and Tim Wu comment that the goods/services in the tail of the curve are created for very different reasons than those created in the head.  I guess this actually goes along with Mark Cuban’s comment above.  The products/services in the head are created with the intention to make money, while those in the tail, like the books on LuLu.com, tend to be created for true creative reasons or from desire.  So, if a product/service is originally made to exist in the head of the curve, is it likely to ever exist in the tail for a sustained amount of time?  Do those products which start in the tail, have a better chance to remain in the tail for longer periods of time?

Stability

In my opinion, the long tail is also about stability.  The long tail enables a longer selling life and contribution to the economy.  The book industry is a perfect example.  I would argue that the increase in book sales, book sales statistics, is the result of the long tail.  Consumers are able to find more of what they want to read, thus they are buying more.  It is hard to believe that there was a fear that the book industry would suffer from eBooks and Internet publishing.

Search

Chris Anderson states that the interplay of three forces helps to drive down the cost of reaching niches.  (democratizing the tools of production, cutting the costs of consumption, connecting supply and demand) I would argue that the force that
Anderson lists as the third force (p.55) is the most important.  The ability to connect supply and demand is crucial to the long tail.  The Amazon and Google searches drive the ability to connect niche demand with niche supply.  Alibris, the aggregator, is another perfect example.  I believe that Alibris is a forerunner of the many specialized aggregators of the future.  As a result, I agree with the blogger who posted that search is far from being dead.  Search will just need to recalibrate to serve the needs of the long tail.

The most successful and functional searches will need to provide post-filters to screen out the long tail’s noise.  As
Anderson notes, there is a lot of crap in the tail and it needs to be filtered out.  If and when, the searches and filters fail, then I would posit that there would a system-wide failure.  More importantly, what happens if the key players in the echochamber, who are responsible for the majority of the information behind searches, move on to something else?  Again, I would posit system-wide failure. 

Is there…

Is there a market that will not be affected by the long tail?  Chris Anderson does not seem to think so in his book, and the long tail of travel blog agrees with this notion.  I am trying to think of one now.