First,
peer-to-peer networks. And subsequently swarm based downloads such as
BitTorrent (and if you don't know what that is, what century do you live in again?). A further refinement of the concept, we now have
SwarmStreaming from
OnionNetworks.
Promising good stuff like swarm based media streaming, BitTorrent-like downloads straight from your browser (and without additional software) and self-healing downloads, there is some clever stuff at work here.
The OnionNetworks SDK is Java-based (
features) but behaves as a remote HTTP proxy (so most software platforms will be able to use it). I'm sure we will see other implementations sprout up though - maybe even direct integration into an operating system's network stack?
I'm just waiting for the algorithms to be released into the wild and an open source derivative to evolve from it! ;) A Linux kernel module, perhaps, offering transparent use of a swarming network layer to servers/desktops? Ah, and what about the possibilities of a SwarmStream network layer for mobile devices with low/spotty bandwidth?
Justin Chapweske of OnionNetworks mentions this in his
blog.