@Stringbean – Those are some really good questions. As we grow up on the Web (and I don’t think we’ll lose that vernacular, no matter the structure, a “grid” is just very well-formed Web), content producers will be able to take advantage of high-fidelity output. These won’t necessarily need HTML, etc. It’ll be more graphical and interactive in nature.

I think hierarchies are going to continue to breakdown. The Web in itself is the anti-structure. Sure, there are clear paths (sometimes), but no distinct top-down order. The Web has been (and will always be) personalized order and because “order” is different for everyone, traditional taxonomical systems had to move folksinomical.

Humans need order, so I think what we’re going to see more of in the next generations is not going to think about where to put things to stay organized, but rather, how will they label data to give it context for themselves. And it will be natural for them.

As far as the actual tools… yeah, they’re going to change. I mean that’s where the real, sustainable money is. In the Gold Rush, the guys who made real money were not the prospectors, but the guys makin’ and sellin’ the shovels and pans.

Viddler.com is one such tool maker. Their combination of high-fidelity content with the ability to give it context and meaning in social structure is how we’ll see some tools change.
Great questions, bro. Thanks for makin’ me think :-)