Very simple answers
swmace, I hope your boss doesn't pay you for strategic planning. You sound convinced that every company has the same requirements as your company, and that the web is not a "working platform" today, and that the web won't continue evolving at a rapid pace.
There are very simple answers to all of your questions. First, not every company is your company, so while Chromebooks may never be appropriate for your company, I know a lot of places where they are a perfect fit for my client's requirements. Second, not every salesperson does quotes from an ERP system. In fact, I would bet that most salespeople don't even have an ERP system to worry about. Third, even today there are very few places where my clients don't have Internet access, including on airplanes, and any coverage gaps are getting filled pretty quickly.
My clients, $5 - $100 million companies, are currently replacing a lot of traditional laptops with iPads because they are less expensive, easier to train/operate, more reliable and less expensive to maintain. They are also giving out iPads to a lot of people that never had any computer (carpenters, painters, and other maintenance techs). In some of these situations a keyboard is desirable so a Chromebook might be a perfect fit.
