But if viewed as part of an overall relationship between buyer and seller, they are getting longer than ever. Indeed, they are becoming value webs, as explained in the previous bullet. The trick in a world of disinteremediation is not to blindly get closer to the customer, but to get farther from the customer in the right way by interposing intermediaries who can effectively deliver your message in ways you can't accomplish directly. The world in which disin-teremediation operates is a world not unlike the old board game of Chutes and Ladders, in which you are willing to head in the opposite direction of your goal in order to get to the top of a chute that will drop you off exactly where you want to be. The essence is not blind efficiency, but effectiveness in accomplishing the ultimate goal.
Net pricing is weird.
A world of disinteremediation is a world full of surprises. For example, net pricing is truly weird. Classical economics suggests that a single item bought on a per-item basis will be more expensive than the single item bought in a batch. But next time you're on an airline flight, look around and consider who paid what for their ticket. Chances are that the grandmother who flies once a year paid less than the business traveler who flies over 100,000 miles per year.