According to the 7/28 issue of Business Week, HBS marketing prof Anita Elberse recently found that Wired editor Chris Anderson's 2006 book "The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" doesn't hold up. Apparently she found that despite all the niche choices available in our current market, the importance of the bestseller is growing, not waning.
Interest study -- much like Second Life, despite all the hype something about the Long Tail theory had never felt right. Perhaps it's that -- in a world that IS so full of so many channels and choices -- people are actually looking for ways to become more connected, not less?
Buying an iPhone, for example, may be as mainstream now as buying an iPod was two years ago -- and therefore in no way unique or niche -- but instead people can now join their friends with the exclamation of "oh, you got one too?!"... not to mention the shared common experience of using one. See also the decline of the customization of MySpace and the rise of (not Taj -- horrible movie) the similar, shared experience that is Facebook.
Comments