Internet -- the universal middle man

I finally had a spare afternoon this weekend, and I decided to finally sit down and put up a proper website for myself. This is the 6th incarnation of a general portal website for myself. Since I design one on average of once a year, my previous designs have become an interesting documentation of the changes in the way we interface and use the internet.

I'd like to posit that the internet has become the ultimate middle man to the world.

The "middle man" concept: The middle man is generally seen in a negative light-- as a consumer, you want to "cut out the middle man" so that you can deal directly with the producer of goods. For example, when I drive to the grocery store to get apples, I am paying middle men all along the way --
- the grocery store, the retailer
- the distributer who has a contract with the grocery store and the farmer (the wholesaler)
- the truckers who deliver transport the apples
Not to mention the farmer and my car.

Now, with the internet, I can theoretically connect "directly" with the original seller, who will then sell me the product at wholesale prices, and then ship it to your door. Theoretically, then, there are only two middle men - the shipper, and the internet.

A purer form of this middle man role can be found in the process it takes to create a website.

In, say, 2000, in order to create a website, you need:
- knowledge of html
- notepad or an html editor
- an ftp program
- server space (either purchased or through the likes of Angelfire)
- an image editor (hopefully one that can resize images)

Now, in 2007, in order to create a website, you need:
- the internet

Want a blog? A few clicks on blogger. Want to share your photos? A few clicks on flickr. They even make the thumbnails and sort it for you. Why create a website when you can just create wiki? With a wiki you don't need to ftp anything. The internet is also becoming a good middleman for social events. For example, you can use eVite to organize parties. Facebook relationships. In current events--using blogs to find out about the Virginia Tech shooting. And in the aftermath, to create memorials. Thanks to the magic of php and various ajaxian experiences, the internet has gotten rid of all the other middle-men that facilitate the individual's contact with the world.

What I worry about sometimes is... what if I forget how to do it without the internet? I am always wary of a monopoly. In this case, it would be a monopoly of process and thought.

So says I, writing on a blog on the internet. No, the hypocrisy is not lost on me.