"the Long Tail can leave us feeling like cavemen looking at a map of the world for the first time" [Slate review]Everybody's heard of The Long Tail by now - the power curve explanation for product demand originated by Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief at Wired. It's a very elegant way to describe how there are a few big dogs in each entertainment industry, but all of us living in our little niches can collectively add up to something big. Slate's got a review today that thinks Anderson has overreached in trying to apply the theory to industries where it doesn't work, but still praises him for what is overall a genius theory.
I like the theory because, really, this is the sandbox where most of us bloggers play. And far from belittling that, the long tail recognizes the power that can come even if you don't have as many readers as, say, Boing Boing.
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