Disintermediation. The removal of intermediate steps from source to user. We are seeing in audio, print, TV, software, cars, airplane tickets, everything that is sold. Our whole economic system has been set up with multiple "middlemen" to create a distribution channel. See Stephen King's novella - he did not need a publisher. He could have cut that deal direct with Amazon or Yahoo. Whoever wanted to drive clicks would have done well to buy it. The Net creates a possibility to remove all of these -- and once that possibility is created, the economic drive is to remove that additional cost that has now become unnecessary -- the force is unstoppable. You will see those middlemen fight as hard as they can since if they accepted it, they are out of business. But surely as the sun will rise, they are toast. It will just take a while. Long term, don't make investments in middlemen.
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Disintermediation. The removal of intermediate steps from source to user. We are seeing in audio, print, TV, software, cars, airplane tickets, everything that is sold. Our whole economic system has been set up with multiple "middlemen" to create a distribution channel. See Stephen King's novella - he did not need a publisher. He could have cut that deal direct with Amazon or Yahoo. Whoever wanted to drive clicks would have done well to buy it. The Net creates a possibility to remove all of these -- and once that possibility is created, the economic drive is to remove that additional cost that has now become unnecessary -- the force is unstoppable. You will see those middlemen fight as hard as they can since if they accepted it, they are out of business. But surely as the sun will rise, they are toast. It will just take a while. Long term, don't make investments in middlemen.