Direct to consumer makes a bit of sense to me now that I've got a few bikes (and ridden or test ridden more). On the one hand, I've got enough experience to know what I'm looking for (at least as far as geometry) to buy a bike sight unseen online. On the other, I know there's jobs I can't or don't want to do on a bike, so I appreciate having a bike shop nearby to do those services, and I don't mind helping to keep them in business.
I keep wondering how that all works for someone who's never had a well-fitted bike. I've seen a few manufacturers' traveling bike shows, but they've never had the models I wanted to test ride in my size. Is the "price uber alles" crowd going to pay for a bike fitting before they buy, and have the fitter help them pick out the right model or size? I can hear it now, "I'm saving $200 buying direct, and you want $250 to tell me what to buy??" Or is the buyer going to say, "My last bike came from K-mart, this is so much better! This is $3,000 between my legs, of course it's awesome!" only to hang the bike up three months later, never to be ridden again.