The Hobbit Hole

It’s been a while since I published anything besides book reviews. You’d think that I was just reading. Far from it. I’ve been busy. Very busy. And not just with work.

The Nintendo DS homebrew is coming along. The Devkitpro guys have really outdone themselves. This toolchain is just about complete. The wireless support is really the only thing lacking, and there are nascent trials there that just about make it work.

Also, I’m working on some prototypes for work. Who would have thought Microsoft is a hotbed of innovation? Well, anyone who sees the work coming out of them would, but the otherwise industry perception is that Microsoft is simply derivative.

But, the thing I appreciate most since I’ve been here is the security. Given the current economic situation, feeling secure is the best incentive to work hard. (Man, I just hope I didn’t offer my own famous last words. ).

But this post wasn’t about Microsoft. It’s about me.

Our Thursday night D&D campaign is going strong. We’re playing through the Keep on the Shadowfell, customized to Eberron and tweaked to fit our campaign.

Otherwise, life is good if busy. I hope to be able to publish the homebrew game I’m working on by the end of the year.

Over the last couple of years I’ve heard the expression “the long tail” several times. Wondering what it was in more detail, I finally found the canonical book that explains it all.

The book details how technological changes have made it possible for a market of niches to become viable and overcome the hit based markets that were dominant in the 20th century. There’s not much evidence to contradict the explanations, and they make a lot of sense. If I were in business, I’d definitely be looking at how to capitalize on these new markets or better yet, create my own niche market.

Basically, technology has made it cheap enough for the three pillars of any market: production, distribution, and marketing/advertisement.

From ubiquitous computing power to expansion of the world labor market for creating cheap goods, it’s now possible for almost anyone to make anything. That doesn’t mean that two guys in a garage can now create a summer blockbuster movie, but they can create a movie, and even a good movie.

The internet has made it possible to distribute almost anything to anyone. You can hang up a sign in a virtual store front on your own website or EBay.

Last, the marvels of search engines in general and Google in particular have made it relatively easy for anyone to find your product. That doesn’t mean that anyone will want your product, but if your product is a good niche product, people will find it, with help from Google’s Ad Words and word of mouth from other consumers.

There are lots of examples, the most compelling being the online music market place. However, as Rampant Coyote has pointed out, this means the same thing for video games, especially PC video games. It also means that it has created more competition for the indie game developer, as they are not only competing against other indies, but also entire back catalogs. However, the ability of people to find your niche counter balances the increased competition, especially for good products, as now word of mouth/recommendations are more powerful than ever.

I liked the book and found it very convincing. I would recommend it to anyone with a potential product. I would also recommend it to anyone following the Personal MBA list too.