A market of multitudes
How the Web creates more choices for everyone
人人有份的市场
网络是如何为人人创造更多的机会的？
Anderson is no mere business wonk.
He embraces the long-tail concept
with the fervor of a visionary.
He thinks online retailing portends dramatic changes
in our culture and economy, all good.
Say goodbye to the tyranny of "hits,"
the relatively small number of movies or CDs
or shirt styles or whatever that limited store space
forces us to choose from.
Online retailing opens a world of near-limitless choice.
讲解
语言点
hit
That song was a hit last year.
hit song
yesterday once more
carpenters
hit song
And when given that, Anderson writes,
people head off in every direction on the compass.
Increasing choice seems to unlock demand for that choice.
They explore obscure music,
buy nearly forgotten 40-year-old movies.
It may turn out
people bought Madonna records all those years
not because they loved Material Girl best of all
but because they didn't have many choices.
Niche is the new now.
"The era of one-size-fits-all is ending,"
Anderson writes,
"and in its place is something new, a market of multitudes."
讲解
I'll definitely embrace the long tail when it comes to music,
DVDs, funky-colored kitchen mixers
and hard-to-find replacement parts for charcoal grills.
But when Anderson turns to "media"
and glories in how the rise of the blogosphere
and Wikipedia, for example,
will revolutionize information-sharing,
I get queasy.
Being a card-carrying member of the Mainstream Media,
I would, wouldn't I?
讲解
语言点
Wikipedia 维基百科
wiki 快
Anderson calls Wikipedia,
the massive online reference work
that anyone can contribute to,
"arguably the best encyclopedia in the world:
bigger, more up-to-date, and in many cases deeper
than even Britannica."
Because literally anyone can write or edit an entry,
egregious errors do creep in, he admits.
Someone with a political agenda
can hijack a controversy-prone entry like "Islam."
讲解
But the system is self-correcting, he argues,
with a "Pro-Am swarm of self-appointed curators"
quickly "fixing" the bad work of others.
While Wikipedia entries vary in quality
more than do Britannica entries,
Wikipedia has 10 times more entries
than its legendary competitor,
so "your chances of finding a reasonable entry
on the topic you're looking for
are actually higher in Wikipedia."
讲解
Maybe. But for the foreseeable future
I'll not commit anything to print solely
on the authority of Wikipedia.
By the end of the book
Anderson seems more cautious in his predictions.
"Mass culture will not fall," he writes.
"It will simply get less mass.
And niche culture will get less obscure."
To succeed, Amazon will still need to sell
plenty of mainstream books as well as obscure titles.
讲解
Over the past couple of years
Anderson trotted out these ideas before audiences,
and the book bears the signs of oral presentation:
short, breezy paragraphs, frequent repetitions.
This is not altogether a bad thing.
He also keeps the jargon level relatively low.
The English majors among us, though,
may have trouble deciphering his charts.
Challenging, thought-provoking,
The Long Tail is one of those business books that,
ironically, deserves more than a niche readership.
讲解
语言点
contribute to 做贡献，促成
Exercise contributes to better health.
捐献
Contribute to the Red Cross.
投稿
He contributed an article to the China Daily.
Anderson is no mere business wonk.
He embraces the long-tail concept
with the fervor of a visionary.
He thinks online retailing portends dramatic changes
in our culture and economy, all good.
Say goodbye to the tyranny of "hits,"
the relatively small number of movies or CDs
or shirt styles or whatever that limited store space
forces us to choose from.
Online retailing opens a world of near-limitless choice.
And when given that, Anderson writes,
people head off in every direction on the compass.
Increasing choice seems to unlock demand for that choice.
They explore obscure music,
buy nearly forgotten 40-year-old movies.
It may turn out
people bought Madonna records all those years
not because they loved Material Girl best of all
but because they didn't have many choices.
Niche is the new now.
"The era of one-size-fits-all is ending,"
Anderson writes,
"and in its place is something new, a market of multitudes."
I'll definitely embrace the long tail when it comes to music,
DVDs, funky-colored kitchen mixers
and hard-to-find replacement parts for charcoal grills.
But when Anderson turns to "media"
and glories in how the rise of the blogosphere
and Wikipedia, for example,
will revolutionize information-sharing,
I get queasy.
Being a card-carrying member of the Mainstream Media,
I would, wouldn't I?
Anderson calls Wikipedia,
the massive online reference work
that anyone can contribute to,
"arguably the best encyclopedia in the world:
bigger, more up-to-date, and in many cases deeper
than even Britannica."
Because literally anyone can write or edit an entry,
egregious errors do creep in, he admits.
Someone with a political agenda
can hijack a controversy-prone entry like "Islam."
But the system is self-correcting, he argues,
with a "Pro-Am swarm of self-appointed curators"
quickly "fixing" the bad work of others.
While Wikipedia entries vary in quality
more than do Britannica entries,
Wikipedia has 10 times more entries
than its legendary competitor,
so "your chances of finding a reasonable entry
on the topic you're looking for
are actually higher in Wikipedia."
Maybe. But for the foreseeable future
I'll not commit anything to print solely
on the authority of Wikipedia.
By the end of the book
Anderson seems more cautious in his predictions.
"Mass culture will not fall," he writes.
"It will simply get less mass.
And niche culture will get less obscure."
To succeed, Amazon will still need to sell
plenty of mainstream books as well as obscure titles.
Over the past couple of years
Anderson trotted out these ideas before audiences,
and the book bears the signs of oral presentation:
short, breezy paragraphs, frequent repetitions.
This is not altogether a bad thing.
He also keeps the jargon level relatively low.
The English majors among us,
though, may have trouble deciphering his charts.
Challenging, thought-provoking,
The Long Tail is one of those business books that,
ironically, deserves more than a niche readership.