>> What has changed that fully distributed systems aren't as desirable? The amount of stored personal data (content, installed software, preferences/configurat

>> What has changed that fully distributed systems aren't as desirable? The amount of stored personal data (content, installed software, preferences/configuration) that the average user wants to access, and the concerns (expense, privacy, resiliency, speed) related to distributing that data. The average user of today doesn't want more CPU, they want their stuff. For most people, it's far more efficient to open a window to the remote machine that has their stuff than it is to try to move all that stuff onto the machine they're sitting at.