The Business Book

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Internet business

KEY DATES

1838 French mathematician Antoine Augustin Cournot produces a graph to represent supply and demand.

1890 British economist Alfred Marshall introduces the concept of demand curves in his book Principles of Economics.

20th century Most companies sell a limited number of goods, with the bulk of sales and profits coming from their top-selling items.

1990s The introduction of the Internet proves to be a disruptive technology that changes economic and social traditions.

2004 Chris Anderson coins the term “Long Tail” to describe the concept that a larger proportion of sales is likely to come from the tail, rather than ...