What I'm Reading - The Long Tail  

One of the topics I read on is business is cultural trends. The "The Long Tail" is a book that fits that category. The author is the editor of "Wired" Magazine. It's an interesting book on how the low cost of production, storage and distribution of content allows all sorts of materials to get out and be found by niche markets.

Here is a portion of a reviewfrom a review from Publisher's Weekly

"Smash hits have existed largely because of scarcity: with a finite number of bookstore shelves and theaters and Wal-Mart CD racks, "it's only sensible to fill them with the titles that will sell best." Today, Web sites and online retailers offer seemingly infinite inventory, and the result is the "shattering of the mainstream into a zillion different cultural shards." These "countless niches" are market opportunities for those who cast a wide net and de-emphasize the search for blockbusters."