ipfs, dat, zeronet I think are good examples of the sparks you are looking for.
These are outside of the blockchain world of compute/storage as a service attempts that got started suring the ico goldrush and seem to be doing quite well for themselves.
i might categorize protocols (or even combining ipfs and dat as the basis of interesting solutions) as fuel. not sure they are the spark that lights the fire.
maybe that sounds like semantics, so to propose a rough taxonomy of different types of actors:
a. nation state level superpowers
b. nation state level challengers
c. large business / incumbents / leaders
d. small business / startups / challengers
e. individuals / consumers / social groups
f. possibly horizontal groups across combinations of the above
it would seem at least one of those groups would need to believe they can reap move-the-needle level benefits from decentralized internet in order to spark progress?
I agree. They are just modernized torrents with higher usability. The real problem (consensus) still only has one solution: blockchain with proof of work.
These are outside of the blockchain world of compute/storage as a service attempts that got started suring the ico goldrush and seem to be doing quite well for themselves.