The Long Tail

I tend to worry when a new tech phrase starts being used, mainly because it's just a matter of time before the term gets misused by the mainstream media and also because most of them are names for things I've been dealing with for a very long time already.

But there is one that I think is very valid, and the name fits perfectly to what is going on. The Long Tail is the term. It's about how, counter to how you would normally think, Places like Amazon and other online retailers are making just as much, or more, money selling items that aren't popular as they are on their best sellers. In other words, even though Harry Potter might sell millions, they also make lots of money on books that just sell a few copies... but there are thousands of books that sell just a few copies, so that adds up to just as many sales as with the top sellers.

Of course, this isn't something regular stores could even see. There is only so much self space, so you have to put all good selling items up. But an online store doesn't have to worry about that. They have several ware houses of stuff, and infinite 'space' to display their items.

Soon, in a world where every book ever published, every TV show ever made, and every movie ever produced is all available to anyone with a net connection, the long tail will be a real money maker. And more importantly, when companies can see ways to make money off of items that don't make the top ten, I think we will see more of them making products that are just expected to fit there.

I look forward to this, because it seems to me during my life time so far, the trend has been moving the other way around. The movie business was more and more about the block buster. Wal-Marts would only have the best selling books and DVD's, and they more and more were becoming the place where people got them.

That bothered me, because in general, I can't stand most best sellers, be it movies or books. I like the odd ball stuff that mall movie houses don't show. I like funny little books by people even I've never heard of.