BitTorrent didn't catch on simply because there aren't very many actual use cases for it. The majority of P2P content distribution will always be illegal (due to the nature of copyright), and so the client-server model is much more representative of the real world. It is technologically pretty neat though, and some publishers do actually use the protocol for things like software updates.
Except for:
- updates of software.
- distribution of public video files.
- distribution of install images.
- distribution of raw public measurements (ea science data).
Basically BitTorrent is the protocol for any usecase with 1:n (or n:n) with public data (ea. No data access controle is needed).
Copyright has nothing to do with it and the nature of BitTorrent does make it also a good fit for some pirates.
Never forget that the following is shared over BitTorrent:
- World of Warcraft updates.
- Linux distribution install images.
- haveibeenpowned sha lists.
And that’s just what I personally know. I know there is more.
