From a developer's perspective, let me tell you why megatextures are the future.
Megatextures are basically a plug-and-play path for developers to disconnect their workflow pipeline from that of the graphics designers, and at the same time completely do away with the need to optimize for a myriad devices that could conceivably be dramatically different in terms of processing power (e.g. iPhone 3GS vs. iPhone 4S running iOS 5).
So while the first attempt looks like it's quite buggy, I don't see developers dropping that concept any time soon. In fact they're going to all embrace it pretty quickly.
The one thing I want to see ASAP is the ability for the end user to control the algorithmic rules. With a properly working algorithm and powerful user overrides, most of the technical issues raised in these RAGE threads will go away.
Of course I'm not talking about gameplay/story, etc... That is another story, so to speak.