My gut feeling, FWIW, is that the internet is a communications medium that tends to disintermediate supply chains; because it makes it really easy for people to locate sources of supply, a lot of traditional middlemen suddenly discover that nobody needs them.
But that doesn't mean there won't be any middlemen; merely that the buggy-whip vendors will be replaced by the folks who understand how to sell automobile seat covers (if you'll permit me to stretch the metaphor).
My gut feeling, FWIW, is that the internet is a communications medium that tends to disintermediate supply chains; because it makes it really easy for people to locate sources of supply, a lot of traditional middlemen suddenly discover that nobody needs them.
But that doesn't mean there won't be any middlemen; merely that the buggy-whip vendors will be replaced by the folks who understand how to sell automobile seat covers (if you'll permit me to stretch the metaphor).