Of course the browser was never intended to be a general purpose applications platform... it was intended to allow hypertext browsing in a standard way. Apps were shoehorned into this environment, simple submit/response forms at first, then later richer UIs as browsers had more and more support bolted on... but web apps have never been and still are not capable of delivering the user experience of a native (fat) client app.

As Apple has finally invented an internet "appliance" that people like to use, it would not surprise me to see an increasing trend of consumer buying away from a general purpose PCs (which few folks really need and most tolerate only because there is no better alternative) and towards these much friendlier, easier to use, more specialized platforms.