PC magazines could be forgiven for a touch of shadenfreude as Christmas spending figures show the internet hitting traditional sales channels. Our readers were naturally among the first to latch on to the power of the web, so we were the first to be affected - hoist with our own petard as we promoted the very technology that drew off much of the advertising that sustained us.

The Dixons group which owns Currys and PC World (no relation) reported sales down, with takings £50m less than expected, and there is talk of store closures.

Music downloads soared over the holiday as people tried out their new MP3 players, but there was a corresponding drop in CD sales. There may be little sympathy for the big music companies who have been creaming off huge profits for years; but hoary problems of copyright protection will have to be addressed if a digital economy is to flourish.

News that Dell, the classic online retailer, is selling through Tescos would appear to buck the trend. Dell's build-to-order system has been hit by the commoditisation of computers: people can expect almost any model to be capable of any workaday task required of it, which means PCs can be sold off the shelf like a can of beans.

But computers will always require local sources of supplies and expertise, which means e-tailers and retailers will have to learn how to coexist. Dell's move shows it adjusting to this reality. PC World is offering a hybrid system, allowing customers to order on the web and collect from their nearest store.