I get most of my news through a "news aggregator" or "river of news." I've been using Radio Userland for over three years for this. Many people have switched over to Google Reader, but Google has gotten so big, that I'm hesitant to use it. A river of news means that I get a long list of feeds from the most recent to the oldest. My feeds consist of blogs and other news sources. Sometimes there's a serendipity of juxtaposition.
Today, I first read an item about niche marketing from Chris Anderson and the Long Tail. He starts:
Why niche brands win. Once upon a time, big companies bought smaller companies and integrated their offerings into the larger product line. It made sense to sprinkle the better-known brand on the lesser-known products and leverage all that brand power. Hence DEC Compaq HP.
In the same vein, I then read Amit's latest post:
How to solve the OEMs dilemma of having cookie-cutter solution to meet needs of different markets?. One of the consistent comments i hear from service providers/manufactures is how we can chart the maze of remote asset to enterprise technologies, how we integrate newly acquired companies and have a cookie cutter solution to serve different clients?
There's a similarity here of how can you be the "niche" that is, the custom solution for a few (that's the long tail, if you don't know the long tail, then spend some time on that Web site-it's cool), and still achieve a scale that makes the solution profitable. Amit broaches an age-old question. I have not yet checked out his product (You'll have to go to his blog), but I will. I was once an integrator of sorts and his problem/solution intrigues me. Perhaps fodder for an Automation World article?
How have some of you solved the niche/mass dilemma? Check out our February issue for an article that partially addresses the topic.
8:39:40 PM 
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