The Long Tail

Great interview from All Things Considered. Chris Anderson of Wired discusses the long tail of retail.

Listen to the interview. Less is more; you can't be all things to all people; and the importance of authenticity, as demonstrated through digital media and micro brews.

The future of our culture -- and most business -- lies in niches, according to author Chris Anderson. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Anderson's new book, references a statistical trend to suggest that the market for items that are not "hits" will always be larger than that for the most popular items.

Anderson's position is that the Internet's ability to offer consumers a near-limitless choice of goods and information -- and archive it all cheaply -- will change how business is conducted. While "hits" will always exist, in Anderson's view the far larger number of products that fit a particular market or audience offer more opportunities.

Cross posted at Sanctioning Agent.