In this report, we revisit our "Long Tail" thesis on the entertainment industry. As we wrote last year, digital technology and economics are loosening the barriers to entry in the video production business. In our view, this augurs a significant increase in supply of video content from many sources, which could lead to slowing growth for incumbents and a shift in value from content creators to aggregators/packagers of content in the middle of the supply chain that can best connect users’ individual tastes with theoretically infinite choice. This report delves further into this theme and addresses key questions we have received from investors and industry contacts on this topic.

How do consumers navigate a world of unlimited choice and find what they are looking for?

We think the "Paradox of Choice" will increase the value of "middlemen," or packagers of content that can appropriately filter out the noise and connect users with the content that appeals to their interests. This can be done through strong brands, editorial discretion, technology, and harnessing user recommendations.

Bear Sterns: A Longer Look at the Long Tail in the Entertainment Industry

Ask someone to listen for words you use too much, like "basically," "clearly," or "actually." People overuse those words and have no idea.

Please, do this! For the sake of the children in the audience.

Fast-Track Your Career By Speaking Well

I’ve seen that image weeks ago, not quite sure where I saw only when I visit archidose did I realize that I am missing the bigger picture, apparently this tower is more than a tower, according to source this 60-storey house is for just one family, well, technically speaking it is because India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani is going to fund this project with his own personal company’s money.

Okay, here are the facts that I gathered:

- 27 floors with an equevilent of 60 storeyed residence at 173.12 meters.
- 6 floors for parking, Mukesh’s family has 168 imported cars.
- Facilities for athletics and a swimming pool, and a health club.
- Helipad at rooftop

A 60-story house for India's richest man

In search of the ultimate sushi experience, the author plunges into the frenzy of the world's biggest seafood market—Tokyo's Tsukiji, where a bluefin tuna can fetch more than $170,000 at auction—and discovers the artistry between ocean and plate, as well as some fishy surprises.

If You Knew Sushi

“The average full-time worker doesn’t even start doing real work until 11:00 a.m.,” he writes, “and begins to wind down around 3:30 p.m.”

The Microsoft survey pointed to worthless meetings.

What appears to be wasted time is really jell time.

Time Wasted? Perhaps It’s Well Spent

No wonder Apple never built a radio tuner in the iPod: it's scared of the competition.

Also check out this NPR story, Music Sites Fight Higher Royalty Fees:

Tim Westergren's Pandora Radio site and others like it allow users to determine musical programming tailored to their tastes. Music companies want to charge such sites higher royalties. Westergren says that's a major threat to Internet radio.

Here's an older NPR story about Pandora more generally.

Also consider:

Amber and Leo interview Tim Westergren from the Music Genome Project and Pandora, a streaming radio service that introduces you to new music based on your preferences.

And if there's one thing that Tim Westergren learned from 10 years on the road playing keyboards in rock bands, it's that there are a lot of talented groups out there that you've probably never heard of.

At one point, he was hopeful:

"If we keep going as we are, I think the music industry is going to look very different down the road, and I think we'll be able to say that we were a significant part of it."

Late last year, he was at Stanford:

People thought that, by lowering distribution costs, the Internet would reduce the power of the big labels. This has not happened -- because the promotion aspect turned out to be critical as well. I don't know if Pandora will ever become big enough to act as a promotion engine that eclipses the labels' marketing muscle.

Learning to Love Radio Again | TIME

BE YOURSELF
Desktop gizmos and lava lamps express Google's laid-back ethos.

ASK THE HELP DESK
Laptop on the fritz? Google keeps experts on site to fix computers and other digital gadgets.

GOOGLER WITH GOGGLES
A lifeguard sits on duty as an employee works out in one of two swim-in-place pools at Google's headquarters.

GOOGLE GRAFFITI
Two employees break for coffee beside the "idea board," a canvas for playfully grand designs like Google spaceships.

HANGING OUT
Googlers can shoot pool while taking a break in one of several employee lounges.

GOOD-HAIR DAYS
Google contracts with stylists to give its employees cut-rate haircuts.

RULING THE NET
Google employees take an afternoon volley ball break. The corporation's Mountain View campus is at once a flurry of playful activity and creative technological innovation.

MARCHING ON ITS STOMACH
Google is obsessive about food, offering its employees three free gourmet meals a day that can be eaten in a cafeteria adorned by artwork created by Google employees.

KIDS' PLAY
There are toys for employees' children and for the young-at-heart Googlers like this one.

HANDS-ON CARE
The work-weary can unwind with a Google-subsidized professional massage.

DOGS ALLOWED
Googlers are permitted to bring their dogs (but not cats) to the workplace.

It's all roses at Google! Join today!

Life in the Googleplex | TIME

"If you want to be an innovator, you have to take the long-term approach," he said. "There is a view that innovation happens overnight and that's simply not the case. It took us eight to 10 years to get Windows popular, and many years to get databases popular."

Ballmer: Innovation Takes Time

So when is MemeStreams going to have these kinds of problems?

I am a big believer that begging is not the right business model," says Mitch Kapor.

He must be a Chooser.

Firefox and the Anxiety of Growing Pains

Potentially of interest.

With the arrival of digital technology, we’ve become a nation “of multitaskers, snackers and samplers,” says Jonathan Miller. A longtime player in the media industry, Miller perceives two distinct trends emerging: the fragmentation of consumption, due to “an incredible explosion of choice,” and the consolidation of money and power in the business.

If consumers like it “they choose to pass it on to their friends ... you can’t spend your way there.”

Last week, Miller spoke at a Milken Institute conference on "shaping the future", during a panel session entitled, Predicting the Future in a Fractured Media World.

Emerging Technologies and Trends in Online Entertainment and Business