Either the browser manufacturers will begin to support Web applications properly, or someone else will supply the tools. Currently, the main argument in favor of supplying application functionality through a Web browser is that users won't have to install software on their own computers. It is true that software installation can lead to a nightmare of support problems as unexpected parts of the system stop working. Windows is so brittle that users rightly resent having to add new software to any computer that still retains most of its faculties. In the future, traditional applications will be updated seamlessly over the Web.
Most people think browsers are the web and the web is the internet.
In the future, many more separate and distinct software and hardware tools will appear. The aforementioned TV tuners will follow. If Hollywood and the recording industry support such a phenomenon, they will make a fortune charging consumers a few cents per song per play. If they don't support it, the music will cost consumers even less. Charge 50 cents or a dollar per viewing, and people will gladly pay.