The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand

The new economics of culture and commerce - Unabridged with an exclusive introduction by the author. 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 bestsellers? In this groundbreaking audiobook, 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. 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 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 the Author :
Chris Anderson is Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine, a position he took up in 2001. Since then he has led the magazine to five National Magazine Award nominations, winning the top prize for General Excellence in 2005, a year in which he was also named editor of the year by AdAge magazine. Previously, he was at the Economist, Nature, and Science magazines. He has worked as a researcher at Los Alamos and served as research assistant to the Chief Scientist of the Department of Transportation. He lives in Northern California with his wife and four children. He can be reached at www.thelongtail.com.

Review :
Anderson's insights with The Long Tail influence Google's strategic thinking in a profound way. Read this brilliant and timely book if you want to get a look at the future of business. The Long Tail is a book for the Head - provocative and insightful. It belongs on your shelf between The Tipping Point and Freakonomics, offering great insight into the next generation of internet revolution and opportunity. Finally, a business book that extends beyond commerce Chris Anderson persuasively argues that the proliferation of niche markets is not a cultural cohesion but a blessing - enabling people to be themselves rather than being brainwashed by the hype of mainstream fads. Within minutes of listening to Christopher Nissley's lively narration, I was converted to Anderson's way of looking at things, although I couldn't imagine how he was going to pad it out over another six CDs. Easily, it turns out, as he summarises how the web came to be, describes how Google diversified and Alibris developed, shows the creative possibilities of MySpace, offers eye-popping statistics about global involvement in Rhapsody and YouTube. The icing on the cake is is an interview with Anderson himself on the final CD. I suggest listening to it first: it illuminates his background (failed rock musician, physics graduate, journalist on the Economist, editor of Wired) and raises issues that will make you listen with even more attention. The final CD also has graphs that visually summarise the book It's a shame Wired editor Chris Anderson didn't have time to narrate his own hip business book. The introduction, read by him, and the bonus interview with him at the end of these seven CDs are the stand-out moments