OK, so I know why it was invented: IPv4 running out of space.
But having followed the various conversations about IPv6 capable ISPs, I'm left wondering why anyone wants to actually use IPv6 right now?
That isn't to argue that they shouldn't, I genuinely want to know. I switched to 64-bit pretty early (because with Linux I could), and dealt with the occasional issues (flash, etc) in return for a system which was theoretically "better" but which felt no real different to a 32-bit machine. But (sad but true) I enjoyed the smugness of running 64-bit without (major) problems, something I couldn't have done with Windows.
So what reasons are there to play with IPv6? Just because we can? Because we want to learn about it for the future? Or is there actually anything practical I could do with IPv6 that I can't with IPv4, or that just works better on IPv6?
If you convince me that there is a good reason to play, my next question will be how to get started, so be warned :-)
PS: For anyone with 64-bit capable hardware there really isn't any downside to using 64-bit Linux now as far as I can tell.