The key here is, though, that the long tail was hardly a new idea or phenomenon. What Anderson did was claim that in the Internet age, more revenue could be found under the tail of the curve than the head. That has not proven to be true; in fact, for some odd reason it seems that data from Amazon and other online retailers shows even more disproportion of spending on the head than the tail. Yes, it is easier in the modern era for a fan to find an obscure work or collectible (think eBay and “retired” Beanie Babies) but that doesn’t mean that the laws of economics have changed. That was Anderson’s erroneous claim in his first book, and he has made a similar argument in changes in the laws of economics in his second book. See the Financial Times review I’ve added above.