“Long tail” is a good point too – in its established form print-on-demand facilitates this by making small press titles and self-publication easier. In the outlet there is still the problem of visibility and display (many bookstores limit displayed range by putting books face-out rather than spine-out on the shelf because it increases visibility and hence sales of volume titles). I’m not sure how this is resolved.

I think we need a post on the “long tail” soon – there are plenty of interesting supply chain angles.

Yes I’ve heard about this too, it’s been around online for some time, allowing self-publication and out of print books back in to the public domain.

Aside from the benefits to the supply chain one can also see the potential for “long tail” type phenomena, ala Myspace.