It's looking more and more like we are entering a new age of web/browser innovation. Google, Mozilla, Apple and sometimes Opera are in a browser arms race, each pumping up the speed and capabilities of html/css/javascript to heights not many people imagined they could go 5 or 10 years ago. And with stuff like native client and soon LLVM support I think we're going to see an explosion of innovation as people discover what's possible with the new web.

Long ago some crazy folks managed to cram most of the guts of a processor onto a single integrated circuit, allowing the creation of a crude yet functional general purpose computer with a single printed circuit board and a few commodity support components. This enabled the creation of "personal" computers that were cheap enough and small enough for nearly anyone to own. At first they were far, far less capable than the mainframes and mini-computers of the day, and written off by many professionals as merely toys. But the nature and simplicity of their construction as well as the expanded potential user and developer base enabled for a faster rate of evolution than old style computer systems. At first micro-computers could only run native code, then people started writing simple interpreters and compilers, then developers created command line operating systems, just as had happened for mainframe computers decades ago, the micro-computer was simply playing catch up. But micro-computer development caught up extraordinarily quickly, and then began to surpass mini-computers and mainframes (as the rate of evolution didn't change after having caught up). Mini-computers quickly died out as specialized micro-computers began to take over their old roles.

Will things be the same for the web? In 5 or 10 years will we see web based applications and games more advanced than photoshop, visual studio, and Halo today?