Ehn, I don't know if you can go from

"my internet provider, cox, does not actually support ipv6" to "I think it is safe to say that ipv6 is dead".

There are much more comprehensive ways to look at ipv6 adoption, e.g. https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html

Mine had some beta program years ago. You had to find a number to call which was hidden away in a locked filing cabinet hidden away in a disused lavatory.

They were purchased recently and maybe there is hope now.

Cox has had ipv6 for quite a while. Hell for a while they kept shutting down my ipv4 leaving me only with ipv6. That was fun to get through tech supports head. Took three times of that happening for a day or two before I finally got to a level 2/3 tech that at least understood what I was talking about.

in our lifetimes. you don't think ipv6 will overtake ipv4 in the next 50-odd years? think about the year 1971 and what was thought possible then

Overtake: yes.

The ability to launch a public-facing, commercial service and pretend like IPv4 never existed and you don't have to worry about it at all? Probably not within our lifetimes.

I am not sure about that. When IPv6 support nears 95%, the pressure will be on those few ISPs to give access to those areas inaccessible from v4. Think of all these websites that need to be cheap and are happy enough with reaching 95% of the audience: blogs, small businesses, anything education related, etc. That should help going from 95 to 100.

Where are you located?

I'm on cox in southern california, and they rolled out IPv6 some time in the last year or so.

Same thing here with Spectrum.