"A new medium arose, even one more powerful than broadcast, and its distribution economics favored infinite niches, not one-size-fits-all fare. The Internet's peer-to-peer architecture is optimized for a symmetrical traffic load, with as many senders as receivers and data transmissions spread out over geography and time. In other words, it is the opposite of broadcast.
Instead of the weak connection of the office cooler. we're increasingly forming our own tribes, groups bound together by affinity and shared interest....
These days our water coolers are increasingly virtual - there are many different ones, and the people who gather around them are self-selected."
From: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
Book Review on Powells: A fascinating and groundbreaking study of business culture in the same vein as Malcom Gladwell's famous Tipping Point. With clarity and wit Anderson proposes that for too long have we suffered under the tyranny of the lowest common denominator, and that, in fact, "niche" culture is alive and well and the basis of an entirely new economic model. May every CEO — of companies big or small, digital or brick-and-mortar — open their eyes to the Long Tail.
Recommended by Gary, Powells.com
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1401302378