Distributors of products and services are constantly threatened by the Internet world where creators and buyers are easily connected.

Travel agencies used to be the main distributor for airline tickets. Bye-bye. Music stores used to be the distributor for CDs. Bye-bye (thank you iTunes).

The subscription rates for print newspapers are in a death spiral. And, we may soon witness in the next few years the demise of brick-and-mortar bookstores thanks to Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPad and other e-readers from Sony, Dell, et al.

This latest technology disruption is a big deal. It sure is a serious concern for Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio. Look at the graph on the right and read the article in the Wall St. Journal.

Are movie theatres next? They’re in business because movies have been historically released first in theatres. But, that also may soon change. Top movie studios and one of the largest cable operators are weighing plans to send movies directly to homes.  Read the news.

What’s next? The Associated Press? Does the news distribution business really need them anymore? Like craigslist disrupted classified advertising, we may soon watch a start-up, Publish2, disrupt the Associated Press. Check it out.

To those of you in the business of distributing products and services, you’ve been warned. If this is keeping you up at night that’s a good thing. As former Intel Chairman Andy Grove titled his bestseller, Only the Paranoid Survive.

The absolute truth is if you’re customers are not raving fans, they may cease being your customers.