The Long Tail: How Endless Choice Is Creating Unlimited Demand - Hardcover

Anderson, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184413850X ISBN 13: 9781844138500

Publisher: Random House Business Books, 2006

Synopsis

What happens when there is almost unlimited choice? When everything becomes available to everyone? And when the combined value of the millions of items that only sell in small quantities equals or even exceeds the value of a handful of best-sellers? In this ground-breaking book, Chris Anderson shows that the future of business does not lie in hits - the high-volume end of a traditional demand curve - but in what used to be regarded as misses - the endlessly long tail of that same curve. As our world is transformed by the Internet and the near infinite choice it offers consumers, so traditional business models are being overturned and new truths revealed about what consumers want and how they want to get it. The world of books has been transformed by Amazon; the record business has been transformed by iTunes and Rhapsody; a similar transformation is coming to just about every industry imaginable. Wherever you look, modest sellers, niche products and quirky titles are becoming an immensely powerful cumulative force. Chris Anderson first explored the Long Tail in an article in "Wired" magazine that has become one of the most influential business essays of our time. Now, in this eagerly anticipated book, he takes a closer look at the new economics of the Internet age, showing where business is going and exploring the huge opportunities that exist: for new producers, new e-tailers, and new tastemakers. He demonstrates how long tail economics apply to industries ranging from the toy business to advertising to kitchen appliances. He sets down the rules for operating in a long tail economy. And he provides a glimpse of a future that's already here.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Anderson is editor in chief of Wired magazine, a position he has held since 2001. He has worked at The Economist , where he served as U.S. business editor. His career began at the two premier science journals, Science and Nature , where he served in several editorial capacities. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from George Washington University and studied Quantum Mechanics and Science Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Berkeley, California.

From AudioFile

Anderson's premise that Internet-based retailing and personal expression enable much wider variety and more profitable niche markets and, thus, are killing a formerly "hit-driven" culture and retail world is somewhat controversial. (Just Google THE LONG TAIL.) But this audiobook presents the argument well, with much detail and many current (late 2005) examples. Christopher Nissley's reading style fits the content; he's clipped and staccato, like Anderson's writing. His narration is helpful to the listener who prefers not to get bogged down in the theoretical and technical parts of the book. Anderson himself reads the introduction, and there's a brief author interview at the end of Disc 7, plus downloadable copies of the book's graphics. T.F. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Business Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184413850X
• ISBN 13: 9781844138500
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256