The wikipedia article on Travelocity has a couple of footnote-links to early articles about EasySabre.
From 1992, a detailed walkthru of the booking experience:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all
And from 1989, an explanation of home computer booking:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...51C1A96F948260
The latter includes this paragraph...
None of the computer shopping services would specify how many people use the travel portion of their product. But industry experts said travel agents should not be overly concerned about losing commissions because individuals buy their own tickets by computer. As the travel industry becomes increasingly competitive and fragmented, they said, people will continue to need the services of experienced travel agents.
Oops