Comment by Nevermark

That is a very good point. Long tails exist. And many long tails continue to grow.

But the mass of everything keeps centralizing.

So the two are not contradictory. Together they imply an increasing dearth of middle diversity/distribution of choices and players.

Increased choices (the menu) can happen at the same time as decreased diversity of choice (flocking, herding) or capacity (sourcing).

So I don’t think you are wrong, despite centralization still being overwhelming.

——

Despite 3D printers, manufacturing in particular has been centralizing in China for decades, and this trend has only increased over the last year as politics and economic instability have hampered manufacturing investment outside China.

Being able to print anything, doesn’t turn around economics and structure that hamper creating major supply chains and new manufacturing centers.

Anymore more than being able to write and publish, and an increase in voices, is turning back the general tide of people en masse viewing/reading and self-exposing themselves to fewer uncoordinated voices.

Economic power is centralizing in fewer mega corporations and in the hands of an increasingly dominant economic minority.

Tech business power in capitalization and sources for the best components is centralizing.

Political parties power is centralizing. Very dramatic changes relative to previous decentralization between different party scales, like local vs. Federal. And far more “personal” centralization like has happened at the top in US parties.

Especially in the US, dramatic power centralization across all three branches of government, over the top of the checks and balances, and intended competing roles, that maintain the US Constitution’s relevance as a constraint on autocracy.

Social media over the last two decades has greatly centralized communication and media. And most of all, popular influence.

That power grows despite the emergence of decentralized alternatives. A reversal in favor of decentralization overall would be welcome.

The creation of huge centralized governmental and corporate caches of deeper and richer surveillance information, is a massive submerged centralization of power.

Device lockdowns on outside ecosystem software continues to increase, relative to the typical consumer.

——

Long tails operate at the fringes, and matter to many. But they are not slowing down overall economic, technological, social and political centralization.