IMHO one of the main reasons for the success of OS X and the iPhone/iPad platform is due to web browsers. Imagine a world where web browsers didn't exist but on

IMHO one of the main reasons for the success of OS X and the iPhone/iPad platform is due to web browsers. Imagine a world where web browsers didn't exist but only specific "thick clients" that used the Internet as a web service to access and store data. Almost all these clients would be originally developed for Windows (Flash player was) with Mac and *nix as an after thought. What if you couldn't access Facbook, gmail, Twitter, etc through a web browser? Without the ability to do your day to day activities on a non Window's platform, how many users would make the jump to a Mac or an iPod/Phone/Pad?