I propose an in-context web-editing interface, and drupal module, that;
(See my previous post to get this in context.)
The node-edit form will still need to exist for power users and more complicated node edit and add cases. The goal is not to replace it, but rather make the editing process simple, straightforward and intuitive for the majority of node-edit cases that do not require the power tools only available in node-edit.
As a very simple example and demonstration I have created a static page that demonstrates the method that I currently see how this could work. Current view and edit pages would be merged minimalisticly into a modified view. Try clicking the title or body and typing in the modified view.
Obviously there would also be some basic functionality, like 'revert' (page refresh), 'save', and 'cancel' (if autosave is enabled). I imagine this would take the form of a 'toolbar'.