The Long Tail and Some Businesses I Don't Understand
Chris Anderson's book "The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business Is Selling More of Less" highlights a statistical phenomenon of the modern business environment brought about by the revolution in information technology: The much increased efficiency in bringing together suppliers and buyers of goods and services means that sellers of very niche products can now reach out to buyers of such products in the furthest corners of the world. The term "Long Tail" is derived from the shape of the bell-curve representing a Gaussian [Normal] statistical distribution, where the greatest frequencies occurs at the top of the curve. [see images above] The Long Tail means a greater number of frequencies at the extremes, or "more of less" as the book title says. The Long Tail is the reason why I can indulge in my very niche interests. I can buy books on esoteric subjects like Evolutionary Programming, stochastic modeling or mathematics in Nature from Amazon. I can also...