The rise of the Internet as a giant electronic billboard of consumer information, among other things, is transforming the way business is being done. This banged-together electronic network has opened up the age of do-it-yourself consumerism.

The people who are going to hurt most by these armchair consumers are the agents who act as the brokers or middlemen between them and the providers of the actual product.

In many sectors agents are seeing their business being eaten away on the Internet. Right now it's just a nibble. But many who survive out of connecting the consumer with the best deal on the market are coming to believe that those nibbles could grow to become a big chunk out of their back pockets -- if they don't find an additional way to become useful.

The travel sector -- like the real estate, auto sales, and investment sectors -- is undergoing just such a transformation. Management consultancy Datamonitor forecasts that in the UK alone, consumers will book about $1.7 billion worth of travel through the Internet within five years. Right now that business is worth a piddling $1.7 million. The Geneva-based International Labour Organisation predicts that the new technology could drive a fifth of travel agents out of business around the the world.

With such dire warnings the agents better take heed. Airlines and hotel chains have jumped at the chance to cut agents out of their commissions by selling directly to the consumer, thereby lowering ticket costs. American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Trans World Airlines (TWA), among others, are allowing direct reservations and sales through their Internet sites. Not only do these sites display the travel information every agent has on their computer screens, but the airlines are aggressively competing by offering significant discounts outside the travel agent's ambit.

Delta (delta-air.com), for example, is offering a $99 companion fare to travellers flying anywhere within the US -- but only to those who book online.

American Airlines is offering consumers who book online a 50 percent discount on their second round-trip ticket. The airlines are also stomping on agents' turf by giving users the ability to book hotel rooms and rental cars throught their sites.

Even companies not traditionally in the travel business are catching on to the new game. American Express (americanexpress.com) and CNN both have services at their sites offering reservations and payments for travel. Then there are the companies which have been created almost exclusively around the Internet, such as the Internet Travel Network (itn.net) and Excite (excite.com). Travel Network offers e-mail updates on low fares, and a search engine which supposedly pops up the travel options according to a user's profile.

The company now calls itself the "unbiased Internet reservation system'', as it pulls information directly from the airlines. It's trying to distinguish itself from SABRE Group, which is giving it stiff competition at its Travelocity site (travelocity.com). SABRE, which runs the regular computer-reservation system that 30,000 travel agencies use to book flights, has made a strategic move online to try and beat back the competition invading its turf.

SABRE's site offers bookings for 400 airlines, 34,000 hotels, and 50 car rental companies. That's not much different from other sites, all of which are in a race to stack up similar statistics and promises to the consumer to be the "one-stop'' place to book.

SABRE has realised that it must help find a way for the agents to do business online, or its system will be bypassed by the new technology. With the Internet consumers are getting or about to get the same information and booking ability available at their fingertips as the agents. Why worry about going to see one? The progressive agents have come to see that they must adapt themselves to the technology. Some say they must re-invent themselves and become travel consultants to companies by helping find ways to reduce total travel costs.

Others in the industry say that consumers will still need guidance searching for information on the Internet, or other electronic systems which may eventually arise. The agent can then become a cybersavvy salesperson where the Internet provides another information data base to add to their list of services.

Locally, Meyer Agencies Ltd. is putting up a complete travel booking site on the Internet using SABRE's services. The company hopes to have its site operating within a month. Consumers travelling from Bermuda can book their tickets through the Internet. But instead of waiting for the ticket to be posted through the mail by an overseas agent, they will be able to pick it up from Meyer. Eventually Meyer hopes to market real estate at the site.

"If we don't go out and be innovative then we would be left behind,'' Meyer's computer man Gary Levon said.

I've booked hotel rooms through the Internet and it worked out to be a good, if somewhat time consuming experience. Photographs of the hotels, the rooms, and maps of where they were located were an added bonus when comparing options.

The agent will always have a market for those who don't have the time. They may also be able to find the best price, and beat the online services. But they are fast becoming just another option to consider on the travel market for bargain hunters with a fast modem.

It's not just the ability to book online that's attractive. Searching online can be still be fruitless and frustrating at times. But for those who know how to use the Internet to its best advantage, the feeling of being in control, of having a few choices to consider and seeing what's out there, beats sitting in front of some travel agent who does a few searches on the computer and spits out the best offer going. Or is it? The war of brokerage houses online just heated up. Fidelity Investments plans on going byte to byte with rival Charles Schwab Corp., the biggest discount brokerage in the US and the leading one online.

Schwab charges clients who use "e.Schwab'' a flat $29.95 for any stock transaction up to 1,000 shares and three cents a share after that. Fidelity plans on charging $1 less than Schwab for its service, which it plans on launching this year.

The Schwab service was introduced in January 1996 and currently has 865,000 customers who are active "electronic traders'' according to the company.

Tech Tattle is a weekly column which focuses on technological developments and computer industry issues. If you have any ideas for topics or a business you would like to discuss, please call Ahmed at 295-5881, ext. 248, or 238-3854.