A market of multitudes
How the Web creates more choices for everyone
人人有份的市场
网络是如何为人人创造更多的机会的？
关键词
multitude 多数
majority
multi
multinational 多国的
multicolor 多色
multicultural 多文化的
poly
polyatomic 多原子的
polysyllable 多音节词
uni
unicellular 单细胞的
unidirectional 单向的
Two weeks ago
I ordered a now-obscure 40-year-old movie
from Amazon.com.
Tomorrow, from another Web site,
I'll order damper blades to replace the rusted set
on my Weber grill.
Both those odd little transactions belong to
what Chris Anderson calls "The Long Tail."
讲解
语言点
replace 代替
with
by
We have replaced the candles with electric lights.
take the place of / in place of
Nowadays plastics have taken the place
of many conventional materials.
Music CDs offer perhaps the easiest way
to understand this appendage.
A traditional brick-and-mortar record store
has space for only a fraction of the thousands
of CDs in existence.
But an online digital jukebox like Rhapsody
can store thousands upon thousands of songs
(1.5 million at last count, according to Anderson).
Because they exist as digital files,
they cost practically nothing to warehouse,
and because consumers download them over the Internet
they cost practically nothing to ship.
讲解
语言点
warehouse 仓库
ware
pottery ware 陶器
earthenware 土器
silverware 银器
hardware 硬件
software 软件
Most of those songs are obscure titles
that will sell only occasionally.
But, Anderson points out,
all those "onesies and twosies" add up to real money.
On a demand curve they make up "the long tail,"
and Anderson contends
that the explosive growth in long-tail retailing,
made possible by the Internet,
is changing the face of American business.
讲解
语言点
add up to
add up
Add up 3, 4 and 5 and you'll get 12.
make up 构成
One hundred years make up a century.
A century is made up of one hundred years.
make up 和好
Let's make up!
make up 化妆
You look so beautiful after making up.
Anderson introduced the term in an October 2004 article
in Wired magazine,
where he is editor in chief.
The article garnered considerable attention
- he says it became the most-cited piece
the magazine had ever run.
In this lively, readily digestible little book
he expands on its themes.
Even those who don't share his giddiness
over all things digital
need to understand the phenomenon he describes.
讲解
Long-tail retailing works most obviously in entertainment
and media businesses.
Amazon.com and Netflix,
the online movie rental company,
merit extended discussion.
Anderson notes that "a quarter of Amazon's book sales
come from outside its top 100,000 titles."
Those are books that almost certainly never appear
on bookstore shelves.
讲解
语言点
merit 优点，益处
Convenience store has the merit of being open late.
merit
deserve 值得，应得
His work merits a prize.
But you see the long tail at work in other industries.
Take KitchenAid mixers.
A store might stock KitchenAids in three colors
- black, white and something else.
But go online and you can choose from pistachio,
cranberry, sienna, some 50 colors.
KitchenAid may not make a ton of money selling,
say, tangerine-colored mixers, but it doesn't need to.
It makes a little money selling a lot of different colors.
This explains Anderson's subtitle,
"Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More."
讲解
语言点
say
let's talk about any writer, say, Dickens.
for instance / for example / take sth. for example
Wear something simple; for example, a skirt and blouse.
Two weeks ago
I ordered a now-obscure 40-year-old movie
from Amazon.com.
Tomorrow, from another Web site,
I'll order damper blades to replace the rusted set
on my Weber grill.
Both those odd little transactions belong to
what Chris Anderson calls "The Long Tail."
Music CDs offer perhaps the easiest way
to understand this appendage.
A traditional brick-and-mortar record store
has space for only a fraction of the thousands
of CDs in existence.
But an online digital jukebox like Rhapsody
can store thousands upon thousands of songs
(1.5 million at last count, according to Anderson).
Because they exist as digital files,
they cost practically nothing to warehouse,
and because consumers download them over the Internet
they cost practically nothing to ship.
Most of those songs are obscure titles
that will sell only occasionally.
But, Anderson points out,
all those "onesies and twosies" add up to real money.
On a demand curve they make up "the long tail,"
and Anderson contends
that the explosive growth in long-tail retailing,
made possible by the Internet,
is changing the face of American business.
Anderson introduced the term in an October 2004 article
in Wired magazine,
where he is editor in chief.
The article garnered considerable attention
- he says it became the most-cited piece
the magazine had ever run.
In this lively, readily digestible little book
he expands on its themes.
Even those who don't share his giddiness
over all things digital
need to understand the phenomenon he describes.
Long-tail retailing works most obviously in entertainment
and media businesses.
Amazon.com and Netflix,
the online movie rental company,
merit extended discussion.
Anderson notes that "a quarter of Amazon's book sales
come from outside its top 100,000 titles."
Those are books that almost certainly never appear
on bookstore shelves.
But you see the long tail at work in other industries.
Take KitchenAid mixers.
A store might stock KitchenAids in three colors
- black, white and something else.
But go online and you can choose from pistachio,
cranberry, sienna, some 50 colors.
KitchenAid may not make a ton of money selling,
say, tangerine-colored mixers, but it doesn't need to.
It makes a little money selling a lot of different colors.
This explains Anderson's subtitle.