The Long Tail

I have been reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.  I have been astounded at how much the Internet has influenced economy and given rise to another niche society.  As I’m reading, I’ve been wondering why I’m reading this as I don’t normally read non-fiction books let alone something that has to do with business and economics (not my forte!).  The long tail deals with niches and individuals being able to find what interests them rather than dealing with what some entity has told them this is a hit.  It allows to follow their personal preferences.  Internet companies are capitolizing on this as this long tail is starting really become a major part of their profits.  Illustrations really help in explaining this and I know I haven’t quite done it justice.  What connections could I possibly make to education and my job as a librarian?  Well, I can take some of the business information in determining customer service and such in my library.  The other idea that struck me as I have been reading is that this is important in developing media literacy as well as information literacy.  Even though students have access to more information and to more broadcasts and such, they still need the skills to be able to determine that which is beneficial.  As I read through this, I’ll try to elaborate more on this as well as come up with other things.  Right now, this is just a pretty interesting book.