v4 with more octets is still backwards incompatible with v4. It would have had all the same problems and headaches in rollout, not only would "nobody want to de

v4 with more octets is still backwards incompatible with v4. It would have had all the same problems and headaches in rollout, not only would "nobody want to deal with it', it would have even fewer reasons to switch. IPv6 at least has some forward-facing features to give people reasons to switch (even if people still argue if they "are worth it").