These are interesting times to be sure. While some are claiming that there is little relation between what is happening on Wall Street to what is happening on Main Street, there is little doubt that retailers have a lot to worry about.
This is how sales used to work. The salesperson worked to a script. The complex desires and concerns of the customer mattered a whole lot less than the need to push a generic solution. There is little in the way of relationship development or needs assessment.
Amazon.com has launched a Wikipedia style site dedicated to music and bands called SoundUnwound. The site features information from Amazon's retail site and from its Internet Movie Database. The site is currently in beta.