The Long Tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a “normal” or Gaussian distribution (Wiki, 2010). For instance, we used characters actually not too much, but the frequency is high. So these characters take up a fewer large red area in the following picture. In addition, most of characters are hard to use, they are that long yellow tail.
The term "long tail" was coined by Chris Anderson to describe the business strategy of e-Tailers such as Amazon.com that sell a high volume of say thousands of popular items (the head portion in the graph below, in red) and low volume of hundreds of thousands of niche or unique items (the mustard tail portion in the image below).
Web 2.0 Internet environments has allowed for smaller niche markets to grow considerably due to easier means of communication. And allowing these small markets to grow, they need a medium to help them to get attention and reaching out to more.
I have this great example to share with you, a special site that can fund your creativity or simply venture your creative innovations online without forking out a single cent. But the magic is to have awesome ideas behind it. It’s known as Kickstarter. Below will be a video link and some explanations to let you know more about Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.
Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, and publishing fields.
A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.
All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.
Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse.
Anyone with a creative idea, they can simply make use of the Kickstarter to help them to make their dreams come true. I have an awesome example to share. Have you heard about the concept of iPod Watchband? There is many different type of iPod watchband in the market but Scott Wilson creator of “TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits” had made this totally revolutionary or unique. They have started small and became world well known, and became a huge hit in the world of IT gadgets.
“Scott Wilson & MNML have experienced insane numerical success on Kickstarter for their kit that turns iPod Nanos into wristwatches. When we announced their pledge-seeking for the TikTok and LunaTik Multitouch Watch Kits on November 18th, we had no idea just how far they'd go; the initial target was a paltry $15,000, but as of this morning the current pledged amount is $461,788--and there's still more than two weeks left in the pledging period!” (core77 news article by hipstorm) Scott Wilson ventured his business from Kickstarter, and eventually evolves into a famous branding for its unique design and it eventually creating a huge impact on the fame of Kickstarter to the world that doesn’t know much of its existence online. From my point of view, both Kickstarter and Scott Wilson help each other and giving in the sense of making a both a huge hit.
Kickstarter not just have acting as a medium for innovative design for Scott Wilson’s TikTok and LunaTik Multitouch Watch Kits but they also cover in the area of music, film, art, technology, food, and publishing. It simply inspires more people all over the world to make their dreams come true.
Reference
Long tail Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail
About Chris Anderson:
About Kickstarter:
YouTube Video Link of Kickstarter:
Kickstarters TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits:
An article from core77 news article by hipstorm:
Scott Wilson Wiki:
Great post! Kickstarter is a good example in this pattern. This novel web 2.0 application matches up some ideas of "thchonology's long tail" which is a speech from Chris Anderson on ted. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chris_anderson_of_wired_on_tech_s_long_tail.html It seems that Kickstater could target various micro-markets to make the tail fatter.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I am very sure that KICKSTARTERS is still very new to the people out there, and I am hoping using this blog article to make more awareness to the digital world. They totally have nail the part on the technology’s long tail, starting small and attracting micro-markets from music, film, art, technology, design, food, and publishing fields. Who knows, maybe within the class, people started to venture their dream after reading this article? :> Cheers :>
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