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This makes no sense to me and is probably why we're so far away from a good solution - I pay my ISP for bandwidth to "the network", which includes other devices on "the network". This is the problem, not everything has to go through a "server" which then needs "bandwidth".

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Surely, the cost of delivering a packet of data is at least partly function of how far the packet has to travel. Assuming your ISP has to pickup the cost of delivering this packet to every corner of the world, the ISP would have to increase prices to account for this (similar to paying extra for international phone calls).

Currently, it seems like a variety of entities are subsidizing this via things like peering agreements and whatnot to make the use of internet simple for the end user.

So what happens if you send a message with a video and the recipient’s device is not responsive, say because it is out of battery or data service range? Should the message simply be lost or should it be stored somewhere until it can be successfully sent?

That "somewhere" could be a server embedded inside your home router provided by your ISP or another "dumb" mailbox of your choosing. That would of course require regulation or an industry-wide push towards P2P, which is unlikely at best.

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