The Longest Tail You Will Ever See

1) Long Tail Theory was probably one of the most confusing concepts that I have ever had to learn before.  I think its a lot more difficult to understand the first time when you don't know anything about the concept, but once you get it, it makes sense.  What I understand Long Tail Theory to be, is the idea that no matter where you are in the world or what you want to find, you can find it.  Its like the ultimate idea that whatever you can think of or create you can probably find somewhere on the Internet.  The example that I think of for this is Nike.  Nike has just about everything you could ever dream of in the shoe/athletic department and not only that, but if you can't seem to find what you want, you can just customize it right there on the site and get it shipped to you when you are done.

2) For my consuming behavior I would have to categorize myself as routine/bargainer.  I never really buy anything online unless its from Nike, Eastbay, or a couple other sporting goods sites.  Other than those sites I don't go to many others which covers my routine consuming behavior.  I would also consider myself a bargainer because whenever I do go on those sites to shop I always take my time and make sure I compare the prices across the sites before I buy anything.

Privacy or Not?

Everyone wants to use the internet as conveniently as possible but they also don't want to give out all their private information on websites.  How do you know who you can trust and who you can't and are websites really as safe as they might seem to be?  These and many other questions keep popping into people's heads as the intelligence of the internet and those who use it becomes more and more advanced.

One of the scariest parts of the internet right now is that most people who use it don't know what information can be seen by other people and what information stays private.  How many of the people who search for things online know that what they search for is saved forever and can be more easily seen than they may think.  Now everyone has their own opinion about individual privacy.  First there are the privacy fundamentalist who would almost never give their information to a website.  Then there are the privacy unconcerned who care only slightly what happens to their information.  Last but not least we have the privacy pragmatists.  Most of the people in this category are very open to the idea of giving the information to websites but only after they have learned what the information is needed for.  I would say most of the people that i know fall under this category, including myself.  It is much easier to trust a website and give them information when you know why they need it.

The internet is definitely starting to become a lot scarier than it once was, with more and more people trying to find a way to steal people's information.  It always seems like the more you put online the more you have to lose but if you know how to protect the information you put online then having the computer remember your password, hopefully won't hurt you too much.