Is the web making the sales rep obsolete?

Over the past few months I've had the chance to speak with a number of business owners, professional buyers and some sales managers re: the impact the web is having on how products are sold. And if there's one thing that's more and more clear it is that the traditional method of having your sales rep handle every aspect of a sale is going the way of the YellowPages and Classified Section of your newspaper. It's clear that among the many things that Amazon, Google, iTunes and even the TireRack has shown is that the current - and growing - generation of web-savvy users are far more interested in gathering info via the web (e.g. Facebook, etc.) and buying directly without having to speak with anyone.

Whether you are consumer looking for some info about a product or a professional looking for detailed product information one thing is clear that the first place to start looking is the web and as such among the last thing these 'informed' consumers want is a sales pitch from a sales rep when in fact all they want to do is process their request. Saw this article by Reid Carr titled Preparing for a World without Sales Representatives and thought it did a nice job more fully exploring this concept.