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Not sure who said it, but there's a joke around that the real reason the web was developed was to give people a way to email and post photos of their cat. I'm not big on pet photos -- even ones of my family dog I usually put in the "snapshot" pile. But there's a really nice set of photos of cats and dogs taken by someone who works at a shelter on Flickr that's worth a look. It reminds me of some of the work of better photojournalists when shooting portraits.
Generally I don't tell folks where to buy camera equipment front. From B&H to KEH to Adorama, there are more than a enough large dealers out there who will have your item in stock and offer a decent price. (But beware of anyone who's way under the nearly equal prices the large dealers will offer.)
However, for certain more obscure items it's a big help to have a dealer who is knowledgable and will be patient with you in helping you choose the right items. I first found The Filter Connection, in Connecticut, while searching for a hard-to-find Kenko wideangle adapter for my Canon G5. Not only do they have a nearly unmatched selection of filters, and great prices, but these specialists are more than happy to help you out if you call -- during business hours, someone will answer and be immediately able to answer your questions, even if they're about some obscure $10 filter you need to find.
I just placed an order with them for a series of graduated neutral density filters (critical for good landscape shots with digital's reduced dynamic range) and they were proactive enough to call me and check on certain issues with my order to make sure I had what I needed, rather than just shipping it. And this isn't the first time they've taken that kind of care with my order. So as much as I like online shopping, I do appreciate the kind of personal service a small business can provide. It's a real joy when you find a place that does both.
A minor note I feel obliged to post after previously recommending Picasa. If you're using it to handle Nikon NEF (RAW fomat) files, be aware that its handling of the files is seriously sub-par. The above is an example of using Picasa's internal NEF reader versus Adobe Photoshop CS. It seems that it's not always great at translating the NEF file into screen images in terms of color balance and contrast. Over the past two weeks I've felt like I'm doing a poor job with exposure, but today I realized it's the changeover to Picasa that's been messing me up. (I don't have end-to-end color management, yet.)
Note this will not be an issue if you shoot JPEGs, which most casual photographers will be doing. In that situation, your RAW file is being converted within the camera to the final JPEG.
Had an experience with Staples tonight that pretty much typifies how I view the purchasing experience these days in terms of bricks & mortar retailers:
The same applies to clothing purchases (chains don't carry "tall" sizes in-store any more), electronics (retail overcharges), photographic equipment (it's cheaper to order online than take the subway to B&H, which is closed on Saturdays as well), and just about everything (even groceries!) Online shopping changes your expectations -- you believe you should be able to find whatever you want immediately (via searching), compare prices instantly, and shop any time you want.
One way online shopping has clearly affected my buying is that I now tend to have a specific item I want. I'm not thinking "box of pens" -- I'm looking for the particular model I'm already used to, because I know I can get it for a particular level of effort. As opposed to the old days, when the time or travel spent searching for that exact SKU would have been an unknown.
Aside from the most impulsive of purchases, or the biggest (cars, houses), physical stores are a losing game for most purchases.