The Long Tail: New markets and a New Way of thinking

The editor of Wired magazine wrote a piece on the new way that music, books and dvds were being sold by the new etailers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple's iTunes. He talks of the traditional bricks and mortar retailer carrying about 7,500 cds or books, and how an etailer has access to hundreds of thousands of titles.

Basically the traditional publisher of material needs to sell a certain minimum number of books in a geographical region in order to justify taking up shelve space with the product. In the world of etailing, small numbers are just as profitable as a large selling product, as shelf space is inifinite, thus the long tail.

It's a fascinating take on what is changing in retailing, and how our lives will be affected by it, all thanks to our access to technology. Pity the Third World countries, who will be left behind, as usual, where just to get food on the table is a struggle. The Western countries have a lot to answer for.

The Long Tail: FAQ