What happens when advances in technology allow many
things to be produced for more or less nothing? And what
happens when those things are then made available to the
consumer for free? In his groundbreaking new book, ''The
Long Tail'' author Chris Anderson considers a brave new
world where the old economic certainties are being
undermined by a growing flood of free goods -
newspapers, DVDs, T-shirts, phones, even holiday
flights. He explains why this has become possible - why
new technologies, particularly the Internet, have caused
production and distribution costs in many sectors to
plummet to an extent unthinkable even a decade ago. He
shows how the flexibility provided by the online world
allows producers to trade ever more creatively, offering
items for free to make real or perceived gains
elsewhere. He pinpoints the winners and the losers in
the Free universe. And he demonstrates the ways in
which, as an increasing number of things become
available for free, our decisions to make use of them
will be determined by two resources far more valuable
than money: the popular reputation of what is on offer
and the time we have available for it.In the future, he
argues, when we talk of the 'money economy' we will talk
of the 'reputation economy' and the 'time economy' in
the same breath, and our world will never be the same
again. |
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