I had an article on this at Teleread:
http://www.teleread.org/2009/05/20/s...nd-good-books/
I do think that publishers have an important and valuable role in the process. However, we might be able to change the definition of a publisher in a world where production involves bits and not physical media and physical distribution.
As an analogy I look at blogs that have opened up the 'newspaper' business to the wide unwashed masses. What if we could likewise open up the publishing business?
Finding good books to read -- even with publishers -- is already more difficult for me in an electronic world. Let's say that typewriterhead (to pick a random name from this thread) is good at finding books. He/she develops a network of friends that funnel potentially good books towards him. If I'm looking for a good book, I go to his book blog because I know that his taste is consistent with mine. When I buy a book he recommends I use his affiliate link to purchase it and he gets a few ducats off the top.
Now griffonwing, is more into dubloons that ducats. He wants more $$$ and he is a good editor, not just a good promoter. When he promotes a book he puts his stamp of quality on it by also editing it. The same book/author might be recommended by both griffonwing and typewriterhead. However, the griffonwing recommendation is for a special griffonwing edition that is edited by him. He gets a small cut off the top for sales of his edition. Authors could decide who they let edit their books. They might sign exclusive editing agreements. Editing can be a fee paid by the writer or a percentage of the sales. And of course, Typewriterhead can recommend the Griffonwing version.
Bottom line is that the publishing functions of editing, laying out the digital bits on the page so the page looks nice, and promotion and recommendation are needed and here to stay. The internet potential is the opportunity to micro-source these out of the hands of large publishing houses into individual hands similar to the way that blogs have opened up the editorial game.