The end of the Pareto Principal?

"Suddenly, popularity no longer has a monopoly on profitability... What's really amazing about the Long Tail is the sheer size of it. Combine enough nonhits on the Long Tail and you've got a market bigger than the hits. Take books: The average Barnes & Noble carries 130,000 titles. Yet more than half of Amazon's book sales come from outside its top 130,000 titles. Consider the implication: If the Amazon statistics are any guide, the market for books that are not even sold in the average bookstore is larger than the market for those that are... As a result, almost anything is worth offering on the off chance it will find a buyer... This is the difference between push and pull, between broadcast and personalized taste. Long Tail business can treat consumers as individuals, offering mass customization as an alternative to mass-market fare." Definitely read the full article: Wired 12.10: The Long Tail (via New Media Musings: The Big Tail rules)