There's been some discussion regarding software developers exploring new ways to bridge the gap between desktop and web applications.
Development tools such as Adobe AIR and Mozilla Prism are the two most notable players. To get a feel for what can been done, Adobe had published a nice gallery of applications.
Let's face it, the only reason desktop applications are still relevant is because of bandwidth and security.
Bandwidth
It was less than 5 years ago that the majority of Internet users were still on either dial-up connection or a by today's standards, a "low-speed" version of the Web as we've come to know it.
New technologies such as Verizon's FIOS, a 100% digital, fiber-optic cable connected straight to your home and speeds as high as 20 Mbps, practically eliminate the need for greater speed.
I believe that if we had the choice, we'd be running our entire businesses online, and even doing processor-intensive tasks such as editing audio and video if it was equal to the desktop experience.
Once we're over the bandwidth issue the Internet economy will only be dealing with security issues.
Security
When companies like Salesforce.com and even Intuit with their online version of Quickbooks, end corporate users are showing little resistance in trusting their most private data ( customer data and financial data ) to web services.
Wrap Up
In 5 years time, will we really be still relying on desktop applications or will the vast majority of our business applications be readily available from any computer, accessible with our username and password?
