Comment by groovybits

Agree that is was not a great idea, or one that anyone asked for.

I saw it as a way for Canonical to start bringing end-user-oriented features to the Linux desktop, something that Linux sorely needed circa 00s and early 10s. They also had the forethought to bring web apps to the desktop before most major players did.

It was all part of their 'continutity' push at the time: desktop and phone in one cohesive interface. Too early for its time, but its clearly working for Apple.