Customer Rating:  
Summary: The Long Book from a Short Article
Comment: PROS: Well written, fluid prose, clear headers guide the reader, useful observations on how the Internet has changed many industries, excellent for the business reader and entrepreneur.
CONS: Although the author generally writes in a concise writing style (which is nice), the book could be even shorter. Indeed, it grew out of a Wired article.
CONCLUSION: The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I wasn't left amazed and blown away. It's a nice book. Well written and researched. Get it if you're an entrepreneur or you love to read how the Net disrupts industries. If you're only moderately interested in these subjects, then just read the Wired article and/or the user comments on this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In Theory, Communism Works...
Comment: Where do I start?
I was really looking forward to reading "The Long Tail". I believe if I read "The World Is Flat" after I read this book, I would enjoy it more. After reading the Friedman book, and seeing the mostly recycled studies and facts Anderson uses here to justify his argument, I feel like I was reading the same book all over again. Ditto on Wikinomics, but I digress.
Here's the real problem with this book: There is a major assumption on Anderson's part that regular people like you and I can create content and sell it. Even if its bad, someone will buy it. Maybe, but no where does Anderson or any of these web futurists ever touch on how to fund such productions (and the fact that most of us will never be able to afford participating in the new web economy.) All this book really does is fuel an Internet gold rush, all the while making authors like Anderson rich for selling us a bill of goods and Silicon dreams.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good but too much fluff
Comment: Nutshell review - A good concept, insight, idea but too much fluff, examples, case studies, etc. Could have been written in a tenth of the pages (but where's the margin in that?).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wow
Comment: Excellent. Shines light on a fascinating concept. Offer growth potential for hundreds of fields. Samuel R Daines II.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Extremely Relevant
Comment: Smart, relevant, and on point, this book is a good read for anyone interested in the evolution of product valuing and Internet-based business modeling. Part social and cultural review, part business process review, it speaks to how gone are the days of company driven, long-lasting big hits, which where primarily created from limited availability of information about people and entertainment products. The digital world of the Internet has created microcosms of connoisseurs who are reshaping what's considered popular, which is, in turn, reshaping Internet-based company business models and revenue sources. In a digital world, more product can be made available with far less overhead because it doesn't take up physical space. What the Long Tail says is that this allows a broader range of purchasing options to the consumer, which then results in increased revenue even if a given song, for example, is only purchased by a mere few people.
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