The ongoing dot.com market correction is far from having a negative effect on online retailing as a whole. It has actually led online retailers to renew their focus on customer service, cost reduction and profitability.

I find it particularly amusing -- and frustrating on behalf of the pioneers who have been selling online for years -- that brick-and-mortar guys who announce the opening of their e-store see a huge one-day run-up. Of course, patience brings rewards, and most of those one-day wonders have returned to more normal prices.

Consumers don't like to be shoulder-surfed when they're online. (But) this is not a deal-breaker for the Web. The Web is alive and well and will continue to thrive. These little bombs will continue to go off, and they'll continue to be fixed.

It will separate legitimate online businesses from those who aren't. The company that is in business by selling personal information will soon be out of business because they'll be red-flagged tomorrow.

The bottom line is that some companies are doing the right thing and a lot are not.

The window of opportunity for Internet startups to get in before the big guys is closed in most cases. There's a difference these days from the heady early days. The cost of entry is getting higher by the week, and the venture-capital firms are more rigorous about their funding decisions.