@Mark DeFilippis – I like your electricity analogy and find it helps make your argument very compelling. That said, there will always be a hardware element in this equation (in any iteration that I can think of, unless we, as humans, evolve to include some kind of ESP :) ), and with that, hardware manufacturers will always struggle to differentiate themselves in a capitalistic society.

While it's certainly possible the differentiating factors will be tied exclusively to the form factor (the hardware's ease of installation, etc.), I still believe it's possible for the hardware's OS to remain one of the differentiating factors. Have I persuaded your opinion at all?