In reply to the "return of the thick client", I disagree with the notion that desktop apps are going to beat web apps. The reason why the original web API failed is because the hardware was too poor and WebKit was too immature. This is rapidly changing though.
I disagree... it's not about desktop vs. web, but rather native code vs. a teetering tower of questionably repurposed abstractions. No matter how fast WebKit becomes, it will still be a browser and will only offer a limited subset of what the hardware can really do. JIT compiling JavaScript engines and the various media specs in HTML 5 help, but there's still such a gulf.
