Web or Desktop?

Many people interested in RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) are trying to make the web more like the desktop. These are very commendable efforts. One good example is WebOnSwing that I bumped into today. However, I think the other way around will be much more successful. See the arguments here, here and here. Also see the excellent WeatherBlox demo. Problem is it shows "Wednesday Lo 40°" and yet I cannot select that text to paste somewhere. Why? Because there is a wall between the web and Flash. It's not that WeatherBlox cannot be enhanced to support this. The issue is it doesn't naturally because it is NOT the web; or otherwise Flash will have to behave like a web browser.