Pareto, Scarcity, Abundance and the Long Tail

Recently created distribution schemes resulting from technological advances are impacting markets, business models and our culture. Much of this impact is related to the Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) which states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This is a ubiquitous principal common in nature and economics. However, it is largely a function of old world distribution constraints. Emerging distribution methods and realities are impacting the"long end of the tail" as Chris Anderson calls it. See his talk to understand why.