Tom Fudge: If you follow business news, you may have heard the expression, “the long tail.” The long tail refers to a business model that's been made possible, to a large extent, by the Internet. The expression describes the ability of companies to make money, not by selling high-volume products; but, by selling low-volume niche products. If they sell a lot of niche products for a long time they can make as much money as they would, selling a high- volume "hit" products. The long tail refers to a graph that shows the staying power of niche products.
The long tail has changed the way some people look at modern business.
The theory has been criticized by some, who see this new business model as having limited applications. The man who coined the term “long tail” is Chris Anderson.
Guest
- Chris Anderson , editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and the author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
