[Regular readers of this blog have read a lot about recent, current and coming disintermediation.  Whether it be the travel business, stock brokerage, media, real estate or insurance it is clear that in this major historical period of transformation, the Internet has brought about clear disintermediation.  Practically any industry will have some structural change due to this phenomenon.  What we will now start to look at from time to time is larger cultural and political institutions that may well be ripe for disintermediation to some degree in the next ten years.]

In 1831 the national nominating convention started to replace the …

Science fiction can be extremely thought provoking, particularly to one who thinks about the future.  There are novels that are fantastical and take place centuries in the future in galaxies ‘far far away’, populated by weird creatures and other worldly landscapes.  Then there are the many novels that are more conceptual, set slightly in the future on planet Earth that posit interesting social views and visions of how humanity might live and be governed; far enough ahead to allow a disconnect from current reality, but close enough to current day that they seem possible.  It is these novels that can …

Yesterday we looked at how Media has been disintermediated and transformed during the past 30 years. Today we look at two industries that are on the threshold of some degree of disintermediation. Using the four part definition of the term , it is clear that real estate and insurance are going to be reorganized from historically developed structures, transactions, fees and processes.

Real Estate

Real Estate is very interesting. We are going to concentrate on residential real estate for this post, because close to 70% of American families own their own homes. A much lower percentage of …

In the last post on disintermediation , I gave a deeper definition and current meaning to the term:

1. Disintermediation is the removal of the intermediary or entity

2. If the intermediary remains in place, it will be drained of any excess compensation

3. Industries that hold information hostage for financial gain will be disintermediated.

4. The Internet can be the agent of disintermediation of existing distribution channels.

We are living in a 50-60 year era of transformative change. Disintermediation is part of transformation, as it always is in such eras. The most powerful agent of disintermediation today is the Internet …