That was the vision of OpenDoc, and the component based CyberDog web browser that Apple built with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc

>OpenDoc is a defunct multi-platform software componentry framework standard created by Apple in the 1990s for compound documents, intended as an alternative to Microsoft's proprietary Object Linking and Embedding (OLE).[1] It is one of Apple's earliest experiments with open standards and collaborative development methods with other companies. OpenDoc development was transferred to the non-profit Component Integration Laboratories, Inc. (CI Labs), owned by a growing team of major corporate backers and effectively starting an industry consortium. In 1992, the historic AIM alliance launched between Apple, IBM, and Motorola—with OpenDoc as a foundation. With the return of Steve Jobs to Apple, OpenDoc was discontinued in March 1997.

[...]

>After three years of development on OpenDoc itself, the first OpenDoc-based product release was Apple's CyberDog web browser in May 1996. The second was on August 1, 1996, of IBM's two packages of OpenDoc components for OS/2, available on the Club OpenDoc website for a 30 day free trial: the Person Pak is "components aimed at organizing names, addresses, and other personal information", for use with personal information management (PIM) applications, at $229; and the Table Pak "to store rows and columns in a database file" at $269. IBM then anticipated the release of 50 more components by the end of 1996.[7]

WWDC 1996 Cyberdog demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhiUncy5qW0

Steve Jobs put a bullet in Open Doc's head, and defended his decision at WWDC '97:

https://donhopkins.medium.com/focusing-is-about-saying-no-st...

“Focusing is about saying no.” -Steve Jobs, WWDC ‘97

As sad as it was, Steve Jobs was right to “put a bullet in OpenDoc’s head”.

Jobs explained (and performed) his side of the story in this fascinating and classic WWDC’97 video: “Focusing is about saying no.”

"Focusing is about saying no" - Steve Jobs (WWDC'97)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8eP99neOVs

Steve Jobs Insult Response - Highest Quality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeqPrUmVz-o

>Steve Jobs handling a tough question at the 1997 Worldwide Developer Conference. He had just returned to Apple as an advisor and was guiding sweeping change at the company. The full video is here - [original video taken down by Apple - new link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnO7D5UaDig ] - this interactions is at 50:25.

I highly recommend taking the time to watch the entire WWDC 1997 video -- it is historically profound.

Steve Jobs walked on stage and announced he wanted to take questions from the audience, right after his return to Apple from NeXT and the sweeping changes he made.

Some of the best most difficult questions really made him stop and think before speaking, and he delivered frank fascinating answers.

We all know what happened next, but it's amazing to hear how deeply and confidently he thought about it before it happened.

WWDC 1997: Steve Jobs about Apple's future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnO7D5UaDig

>Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in the San Jose Convention Center (May 13-16) was the first show after the purchase of NeXT, and focused on the efforts to use OpenStep as the foundation of the next Mac OS. The plan at that time was to introduce a new system then known as Rhapsody, which would consist of a version of OpenStep modified with a more Mac-like look and feel, the Yellow Box, along with a Blue Box that allowed existing Mac applications to run under OS emulation.

>The show focused primarily on the work in progress, including a short history of the development efforts since the two development teams had been merged on February 4. Several new additions to the system were also demonstrated, including tabbed and outline views, and a new object-based graphics layer (NSBezier). Source: wikipedia.org