3 years? In 1995 Larry Ellison and quite a few other people were completely convinced that thin clients (or network computers) would win over desktop PCs with all applications being hosted on an external server and running off of central databases.
To me, thin client means Windows and Remote Desktop, and that means a clunky experience with a very problematic remote desktop client that interrupts what I'm doing quite often and a server experience that needs a lot of management and doesn't support a lot of badly written programs.
I wonder how many more people would be happy to work by remote desktop / windows thin client if the technology was still much the same, but the experience was polished a bit more?
I don't know what the Linux-style equivalent is, is there one or is it a mash of X-forwarding-over-SSH and VNC?
However a lot of people do more with a computer than currently offered by online spreadsheets and email.
Not to mention companies and government that have strict IT security policies that wouldn't allow data on these external networks.