In Chris Andersen's The Long tail, he talks about the internet's change on todays society. The internet's ability to cater directly to the consumer has boosted its popularity far beyond people expected.

So I just finished reading Anderson's The Long Tail. I found it very interesting. He delved deep into things that I had only thought breifly of before, and I agreed for the most part with his general message. However, there were some passages that I believed were either just plain wrong or poorly supported.

Reading Chris Anderson’s article “The Long Tail,” I reflected on the song “Video Killed the Radio Star,” and how the Internet is poised to someday take over much of brick and mortar. With infinite more choices and an endless capacity to expand, the Internet has become home to the unique pursuits of all individuals media needs. I found most compelling the articles discussion of the economic topics of scarcity, demand, and price in relation to media consumption and distribution.

We are on the verge of something big, something new.The 'constraints' of the physical world will be gone in no time. What we now perceive to be the world in a few years will just be the worldwideweb. But after such a move, what is left?

The thing I found most interesting about 'The Long Tail' was the fact that teenagers have no idea that stealing music is ruining the music business. Each individual is quickly decreasing music’s mass production. It’s a scary thought that between itunes and stealing music, America has put music stores such as Sam Goody and Tower Records out of business. It doesn’t even occur to most people that they are stealing music. No one realizes that we are not only doing something illegal, but also insulting the music business. It’s as if music isn’t even worth our time or money.

In the article "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, Anderson discusses the way the internet has changed the way we look at entertainment, the way the popularity of certain parts of entertainment reflect change in our society and how we consume it, and how "the future of entertainment lies in millions of niche markets" as opposed to chart topping radio hits, because nowadays we have the ability to access so quickly and easily what appeals most to us. There were a few main points I decided to reflect on from the article.

"For too long we've been suffering the tyranny of lowest-common-denominator fare, subjected to brain-dead summer blockbusters and manufactured pop. Why? Economics. Many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor supply-and-demand matching - a market response to inefficient distribution." (chris anderson)