This is probably exactly what will happen, because the chain will not be able to support transactions directly in quantity, and so we end up with a plethora of

This is probably exactly what will happen, because the chain will not be able to support transactions directly in quantity, and so we end up with a plethora of middle men who are responsible for opening and maintaining payment channels. That scales pretty well, but a hybrid solution is probably best. Moores law and all that.