Chris Anderson

In a world of infinite choice, context—not content—is king. (Chris Anderson quoting Rob Reid)

We are turning from a mass market back into a niche nation, defined now not by our geography but by our interests.

Our growing affluence has allowed us to shift from being bargain shoppers buying branded (or even unbranded) commodities to becoming mini-connoisseurs, flexing our taste with a thousand little indulgences that sets us apart from others.

Broadly, the Long Tail is about abundance. Abundant shelf space, abundant distribution, abundant choice.

The Web is the ultimate marketplace of ideas, governed by the laws of big numbers.

The world of shelf space is a zero-sum game: One product displaces another.

In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distributions, narrowly targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.