BEER, WHISKEY AND COFFEE. Thinkers like Barry Schwartz are claiming that people will be happier if they have fewer choices at the same time that the Long Tail theory is arguing that the wave of the future in many products is for great specialization. The Long Tail claims that you can sometimes get a larger volume by selling a lot of low volume items rather than by selling blockbusters. Amazon is the usual example given for the Long Tail. A lot of Amazon’s sales are of obscure books. To quote Wikipedia, “An Amazon employee described the Long Tail as follows: ‘We sold more books today that didn’t sell at all yesterday than we sold today of all the books that did sell yesterday.'” The world has moved in my direction in my lifetime. I am perfectly willing to satisfice on wine, but I treasure the variety of beer, whiskey and coffee that is now available. Some of the greater variety is enabled by declines in inventory costs, as described in the Wikipedia article, but I think there has also been a change in American tastes. There was a time that Americans seemed to prefer bland tastes, perhaps preferring products that would be acceptable to their friends. Now I have the chance to drink Pilsener Urquel as well as Budweiser, Laphroaig as well as blended whiskeys, Starbucks as well as Folger’s.
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- Gary Nuetzel on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Francesca on EATING PEAS WITH A KNIFE.
- avon wilsmore on CHEATING IN CHAMPIONSHIP BRIDGE.
- Anonymous on THE LANGUAGE WEIRDNESS INDEX.
- James Friscia on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Lickity Splitfingers on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- David Quemere on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Nicholas Schaefer on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
Meta
I do love the choices the long tail model gives. A point that’s been made on one of my nerdy technology podcasts is that digital distribution is a great place for the long tail, since it costs next to nothing to have Obscure Title X sitting on a server waiting to be discovered by a customer. I’ve found albums on the iTunes store I couldn’t find in any of the record stores around here (not even the incredibly well-stocked and hip Plan 9 Records). Words cannot describe how much I enjoy shopping on Amazon.
As Lee said so perfectly, I adore shopping on Amazon.
I really sat up and took notice when you mentioned the change in American tastes from bland, “perhaps preferring products that would be acceptable to their friends” to what we have now. And I think what we have now is a deep appreciation (perhaps melodramatically deep at times) for individuality.
Teenagers and pre-teens love to talk about how different they are and how no one understands them. These kids rebel against pop culture by joining a counter-culture group (which I really find amusing) such as goths, punks, emo, and whoever else shops at Hot Topic, even sexual groups that help define them as “different”. Corporations have picked up on this and are now marketing accordingly; Burger King’s slogan is currently “Have it your way” but I’m sure there are better examples out there.
How about chocolate? In England, the Cadbury bars, even the milk chocolate, have character and undertones. The stuff they send to the U.S. tastes more of sugar than chocolate. American chocolate is supposed to be sweeter, and probably is. Why, then, do I love Hershey’s with almonds but find “Cadbury for Americans” bland as all get out? Is this Cadbury product sweetened so much it’s really a parody?