Waving and drowning: B2B publishers?

B2B publishers seem to be taking a bigger hit from the current downturn that some of the more consumer-oriented firms.  Part of the problem is from companies cutting back on their subscriptions but technology is also playing a large part in their decline.  Commercially valuable information that previously could only be accessed from the one or two key magazines in a sector is now routinely made available by expert bloggers on their sites.  This trend is not going away and will only accelerate as new platforms emerge for sharing information and which allow independent "experts" to forge reputations online.  Paul Conley's latest post discusses these changes in more detail but also points out that Google's Wave platform (yet to be launched) offers some exciting potential for richer streams of information to emerge around specific B2B verticals than is currently the case.  With the might of Google behind it and the speed with which Twitter has gone mainstream(ish) as a communications platform, Wave may emerge quickly as another weapon of creative destruction pounding the publishing sector.  Or, as Paul mentions, it might be another Second Life; lots of promise but no traction.