
Online Choice Changed Business Forever | The Long Tail (Chris Anderson)
About this episode
If you had all the choice in the world, what would you do?
'The Long Tail' by Chris Anderson is an exposition of how greater access to choices of products has altered business practices. Greater value can be unlocked from producers selling to consumers via better aggregation methods such as digitisation and rating systems. This has had huge impacts on music/market places/culture and given rise to massive companies like Amazon, Netflix and Google.
I summarised the book as follows. "It's a great explanation of a phenomena and trend. Generates a compelling argument of why all these companies arose with links to the deeper principles behind them. I think there are some limitations of how the long tail will apply to future trends (AI/social media/3D printing) but did a great job of explaining at the time. It could have been slightly shorter and it is a little bit dated but it gave me a lot of insights into economic and market dynamics."
I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!
Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro
(0:34) - Synopsis
(2:52) - The Market: How supply & demand interact
(14:45) - Economics: Clearing up misconceptions
(30:21) - Observations/Takeaways
(34:43) - Summary
Value 4 Value Support:
Boostagram: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/support
Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast
Connect with Mere Mortals:
Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcast
Get every episode summarized
Each time Mere Mortals Book Reviews publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Mere Mortals Book Reviews

Dario Amodei’s AI Warning: We’re Closer Than People Realise
Mere Mortals Book Reviews

This Book Predicts the Future (And It’s Terrifying) | Accelerando Book Review
Mere Mortals Book Reviews

The Habits of High Performers | Book Review (James Laughlin)
Mere Mortals Book Reviews

Tolkien’s Final Battle | The Return of the King Book Review
Mere Mortals Book Reviews