An interesting point

Adrian made an interesting point about the Internet being in NO way virtual. He said, and I agree, that we renege all responsibility when saying that the Internet is just virtual. Adrian used the example of our phones, and the landfill this creates.

Why does the 80/20 rule seem to appear universally in the physical world?

In my opinion, this question is more an attempt to generate conversation and less about seeking a genuine answer i.e. asking a question for the sake of asking a question. I think Adrian’s answer – “I have no idea” – exemplifies this. Elliot and Jasmine made reference to Barabasi’s notes on growth and preferential attachment but, Adrian corrected that the 80/20 rule in the physical world is separate from power law distributions.

The long tail

By linking to the ‘long tail’ we are helping it become healthier and thereby avoiding the rich get richer phenomenon. There is more information in the long tail and we need to nurture this. For example, blogs contain specific information about specific topics, whereas A-list broadcasters like The Age only touch the surface in their attempt to cover a broad range of topics.