Slashdot Mirror
A View From Under the Long Tail
An anonymous reader writes "Here's a funny article by James Boyle in the Financial Times on what it really feels like to be part of the long tail economy." From the article: "Where Amazon's normal customer service seems to be run by suspiciously cheerful MBAs from Stanford, who break off from counting their stock options to write apologies and deliver refunds, 'Amazon Advantage', the ironically named system for selling wares, is clearly based on the last days of the Soviet system. The problem with their representatives is not that their native language is not English, it is that their native planet is not Earth."
I have no idea why people insist on using confusing examples for the Long Tail concept. THIS is the Long Tail. Brand new games created for a system that's 30 years old, with a very specialized fan base. In a traditional market, you would NEVER be able to make money off of this. But in an Internet-enabled environment, you can theoretically reach every member of this esoteric market in every region in the world, with a very small advertising budget.
The only reason why Amazon keeps coming up is that they collectively sell lots of esoteria, thus managing to hit a farther end in the population dropoff (i.e. the longest part of the tail) than a business like AtariAge could reasonably profit from.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
"find an alternative, and you will see Amazon fix itself." too true. I have had very poor service from Amazon when I have used it as a (customer in the UK.) First I bought a usb thumb drive which arrived late because the vendor claimed "Amazon never passed on the order". Then I ordered a book on Python for my little geeklings (my children) who were showing interest in learning some programming. Strike while the iron is hot I thought. However this thought was not shared by Amazon. After a month I received an email saying that the book would be delayed a further 6 to 8 weeks. So I cancelled and instead went to http://computermanuals.co.uk/ who managed to get me the book delivered to the Scottish highlands next day! Guess who I am using for my tech books now. found my alternative.
Dear Amazon
Because of your piss-poor service I have not bought anything from you for two years. I use your website to find books and then go to my local English bookstore to place the order. DVDs are obtained in a similar way by browsing your site and then walking round the corner to my local video rental shop. I am sure that I am not the only person who does this.
Ed Almos
Budapest, Hungary
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.