ChromeOS is going nowhere, it's currently the best OS option that is able to turn a PC into an instant-start, always-connected "appliance" where end-users don't need to care about the mundane details of using a PC, e.g managing files and folders, backing up, syncing, updates, security and virus-scanning protection, etc - everything runs in a sandbox, gets updated automatically and "just works".
I think there's no point in carrying forward ChromeOS ahead, when Android can already do so much more, without needing to be always connected to the internet. The world (even the first world) hasn't reached to a place yet where it can depend on always being connected.
How is ChomeOS better positioned for this metric than iOS or Android? While I am not a huge fan of them as general purpose computers, our Kindle Fires actually fit these bills rather well.
Except it doesn't "just work". For example, offline support is abysmal, and standard tasks such as viewing PDFs or Office documents are riddled with display bugs. Chrome OS has a long way to go before it's a serious competitor to the mainstream operating systems.
Yeah it's just a browser if you forget about the Custom Firmware, Custom Hardened Linux OS with auto-updating sandbox, built-in TPM support and a trusted bootpath optimized for FastBoots, customized Portage build system, Custom Window Manager, built-in media player, file manager, integration with Google Cloud Print, Chrome Shell/SSH, Chrome Remote Desktop.
But it's comforting that there are people that just think of it as just another web browser - that's the whole point, just think of it as a web browsing appliance that "just works like a browser" -- even though it's not.
Chrome is a platform for running web apps, just like android is a platform for running android apps. It is literally the exact same concept, each type of app just has different strengths and weaknesses.
