Customer Reviews
good but over-rated - By: Lauren Cowan, 16 Jan 2008 
I was reallly looking forward to this book but although extremely interesting in parts I was overalll disappointed with it. I suppose it could be because I am familiar with the evolution of global media, if you don't then you would probably find it more interesting. The first chapter explaining the long tail is briliant for those new to the concept, but I pretty much got his point there. I would have liked more applications to the future of business & marketing practices.
A worthwhile read for anyone in media, marketing & commerce but not worth the hype it has received.
Hits and Niches - By: James Taylor, 06 Jul 2007 
Chris Anderson does a nice job of introducing some key concepts that are redefining business in the Internet era. As he says "The era of one-size-fits-alll is ending, & in its place is something new, a market of multitudes". In this world the ability of the Internet to give customers access to a vast (and rapidly growing) array of choices is changing not just how they buy but what they buy. The book has some solid research on how companies, both pure Internet retailers & mixed offline/online retailers are adapting to this world. The book discusses everything from Sturgeon's Law ("ninety percent of everything is crud") to the "98 percent rule" (98% of anything sold online will have at least occasional sales even if the online catalog is 40 times the offline one).
The book covers how hits have dominated in the past century & how niches will dominate in this one. It also gives some general suggestions as to what you can do about it although it does somewhat leave you hanging in terms of specific advice for how to do marketing, build information systems etc in this brave new world.
Thought provoking & compelling.
Interesting read, but gets a bit repetitive. - By: A. Goenka, 25 Apr 2007 
An interesting read, with great examples comparing internet business models with their bricks-and-mortar counterparts, but the same topics are visited too many times, making the book seem a bit repetitive. The statistical & economic analysis is well filtered into layman's terms. A great "introduction" for budding entreprenuers looking to understand the ideas & potential of the Internet & Web 2.0 business models.
A witty look at the way cyberspace rewrites retailing's rules - By: Rolf Dobelli, 25 Sep 2006 Does the modern world of online markets make you feel like Rip Van Winkle, who awoke from a 20-year nap to find a changed society? Author Chris Anderson has your wake-up calll. With hard facts, charts & numbers, plus futuristic insights, Anderson decodes the mysteries of online marketing, Internet-based commerce & other New Age economic realities. His calculations, public feedback & extensive research offer more than just statistics for the sake of proving his point: Online retailing has a long reach into niche markets. This gives its products longevity that stores with finite shelf space can't match, no matter how much steam they get from short-lived, blockbuster products. Anderson credibly explains the decline in box office sales & the rise of niche companies such as Netflix & iTunes. Despite a few redundancies (he believes in thorough explanations), keep on reading. You won't mind: the text is a pleasure, written with wit, style & expertise. We recommend it to Luddites, old school business operators, anyone in entertainment or retail, & New Age Internet-based marketers (although you probably already know just how long this tail can be).
