Articles

By now most people are familiar with the concept of  “the long tail” — Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson’s digital-era economics theory that busi-nesses with significant distribution capability — like online businesses — can sell a greater number of items at small volumes than of popular items at large volumes. Anderson argues — and not many people have argued back — that products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collec-tively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds that of the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough.

Trade show trends point the way to audio convergence.

Usually, right around the middle of day three of most trade shows, someone will bring up the idea of making such shows into virtual enter-prises, with products and services up on the Internet for all to see after attendees validate their online registrations. Day three often finds plenty of minds and feet receptive to the idea of going virtual — even the inevitable post-show soirées could be handled by creating a virtual Michael Todd Room at one of the MySpace-like social networking sites. The huge amounts of money saved on airfares, hotel rooms and booths could be put into R&D and salary increases.