Until instantaneous data transfer discovered (where the speed of light isn't the limit), the closer one is to the processor the faster the application will be. The point being that with data manipulation unless you have a huge bandwidth, the packet size can match and the ability to assure rare outages (if ever) applications on ones personal computer, with personal data will always be faster. The point being is all the discussion regarding performance on desktops vs web applications is moot when we are at least a decade away from everyone having internet connections capable of instantaneously transferring hundreds of megabytes of data.

Personally, I can barely stand web applications, I want my computer to move as fast or faster than I think.