Chris Anderson (The Long Tail)
Encyclopedia
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, which has won a National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
for general excellence three times during his tenure. He wrote an article in the magazine entitled The Long Tail
The Long Tail
The Long Tail or long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a 'normal' or Gaussian distribution...
, which he expanded upon in the book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More (2006). He currently lives in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with his wife and five children. He is the founder and chairman of BookTour.com and DIYDrones/3D Robotics.
Life and career
Before joining Wired in 2001, he worked at The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, where he launched the magazine's coverage of the Internet. He has a degree in physics from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
and did research at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
. He also has worked at the journals Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
and Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
.
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
The Long Tail
The Long Tail or long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a 'normal' or Gaussian distribution...
, which appeared on the New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list, argues that products in low demand or that have a low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough
His newest book, entitled Free: The Future of a Radical Price, which examines the rise of pricing models which give products and services to customers for free, was released on July 7, 2009, by Hyperion.
Anderson generated controversy for plagiarizing
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
content from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
in Free. Anderson responded to the claim on his The Long Tail blog, stating that there were disagreements between him and the publisher over accurate citation of Wikipedia due to the changing nature of its content, leading him to integrate footnotes into the text. Also on his blog, he took full responsibility for the mistakes and noted that the digital editions of Free were corrected. The notes and sources were later provided as a download on his blog.
Regardless of the controversy, the $29.99 hard copy version of Free debuted as #12 on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was also available as a free download for a limited time, and 200,000 to 300,000 digital versions were downloaded in the first two weeks. The unabridged audiobook remains free, while the abridged version costs $7.49.
In 2007, Mr. Anderson founded GeekDad
GeekDad
GeekDad is a website covering multiple topics targeting fathers who categorize themselves as a "geek." Popular post categories include Lego, Star Wars & Star Trek, video games, books, and field trips. GeekDad also publishes a regular podcast covering items of interest to the website's readers...
, a do-it-yourself blog that became part of Wired.com. He acted as the editor until handing the title to Ken Denmead. Mr. Anderson now serves as editor emeritus of GeekDad
GeekDad
GeekDad is a website covering multiple topics targeting fathers who categorize themselves as a "geek." Popular post categories include Lego, Star Wars & Star Trek, video games, books, and field trips. GeekDad also publishes a regular podcast covering items of interest to the website's readers...
.
In October 2007, Anderson, who has been described as an "aerial-reconnaissance enthusiast," flew a remote-controlled aircraft allegedly equipped with a camera over Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
, causing security concerns when the aircraft crashed into a tree.
Anderson also founded Booktour.com, a free online service that connects authors on tour with audiences, and 3D Robotics, an open-source aerial robotics company around the DIYdrones.com online community.
Anderson is currently preparing a new book which is based on his new article, "Atoms Are the New Bits", in a recent issue of Wired magazine.
External links
- The Long Tail blog, by Chris Anderson
- Biography, from The Long Tail blog.
- Biography, from O'Reilly
- Chris Anderson at BookTour.com
- Podcast With Chris Anderson, on Trust Value in the Long Tail Economy.
- Chris Anderson Long Tail Keynote speech, at Software and Information Industry Association Content Forum in San Francisco. 11-13-2006
- The Time 100. On the Time 100Time 100Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
annual list for 2007. - Podcast featuring Anderson Anderson discusses The Long Tail on EconTalkEconTalkEconTalk is a weekly podcast hosted by professor Russell Roberts at George Mason University. Roberts interviews guests—often professional economists—on topics in economics....
. - Chris Anderson discusses The Long Tail at Long Now FoundationLong Now FoundationThe Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is a private organization that seeks to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster/cheaper" mindset and to promote "slower/better" thinking...
with William Randolph Hearst IIIWilliam Randolph Hearst IIIWilliam Randolph Hearst III became president of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation in early 2003. Son of William Randolph Hearst, Jr...
, 05/12/2006 - Free: The Past and Future of a Radical Price Keynote speech at Nokia World 2007 in Amsterdam on December 5, 2007.
- A critique of "Why $0.00 is the Future of Business" from a blog post at Teenage Kicks at LA Weekly's Play site on February 26, 2008.
- Chris Anderson’s Free Contains Apparent Plagiarism, by Waldo Jaquith on June 23, 2009
- Freemium Business Model Website
- "We were so keen to believe that Web 2.0 would make the world fairer that we rejected all evidence to the contrary"