I don’t understand your point about freemium. The key is to give away things that are inexpensive or very, very low marginal cost. Companies don’t need to be very well funded to do that. Freemium can be an effective part of a marketing / business stragegy if used effectively.

I don’t understand your point about the long tail. Nobody says “think long tail” (or at least, nobody that understands it). The ones that understand how to create strategies that leverage the tail say “get out of the tail”, or “profit from the tail” (i.e. be the head of the tail).

I don’t agree with your point about niches. Creating a niche is not about getting out of Getty’s way; it’s about doing it better than Getty in a specific area.

You’re right about twitter, tumblr, social media, etc = simply using them will not save anybody. But using them intelligently, with a strategy and method for testing, measuring and refining one’s approach, gives one the best chance for success.