In some places, current technology for small, compact wastewater treatment plants has improved, offering advantages over larger, centralized systems.

UNESCO: EDUCATION

Unlike traditional "centralized" systems, distributed energy relies on small power-generating technologies like solar panels or ultra-efficient natural-gas turbines built near the point of energy consumption to supplement or displace grid-distributed electricity.

FORBES: The Answer To The Energy Problem

Throughout the salesforce.com journey, the company has been a disruptive force against centralized top-down systems.

FORBES: Marc Benioff to Write Age of Context Foreword

Centralized backup for multiple systems on the network, including very intuitive, native support for Apple Time Machine on Mac OS computers.

ENGADGET: Drobo's new 5N is a speedy $600 NAS for when you need files, stat

The pole and tackle include previously vetted products that add substantial economic or health related benefits to rural villagers as well as centralized marketing and administrative systems and a network of people to help support the entrepreneurial efforts.

FORBES: Social Entrepreneurship: The MicroConsignment Model

And, of course, movies like The Future of Food and Food, Inc. really affected our world view, not to mention the regular diet of food-born illness reports, most of which are directly related to centralized, co-mingled food distribution systems.

FORBES: Eggzy: Developing a Transparent, Local Egg Distribution Network

In this event, participants will explore if and how cities in a developing country context can accelerate the development of their urban water management systems by by-passing conventional, centralized approaches and promoting more decentralized and flexible solutions that promise a higher degree of sustainability.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

Such computer systems require interconnectivity to provide access to centralized storage and as discussed above increasingly require the need to communicate with each other to not only provide virtualization properties already discussed but also deliver performance in an acceptable time-frame, often in the order of microseconds.

FORBES: Why the Cloud Needs a Network Decongestant

So Al and Jim built a cloud-based application that centralized the myriad tools that salespeople use, such as email, CRM systems, web conferences, PowerPoint decks, videos, PDFs and so on.

FORBES: ClearSlide: Building a Tech Startup -- Old School Style