I long for multi-column text. I hate scrolling, but worse, I hate getting to the end of a screen-width of text and then having to flick back to the left and work out which line to start on. Text should be in 8 to 10 word lines for optimal readability - much longer and it slows down your ability to read quickly and effectively.
Your mileage will vary, and I'm not saying that everyone has the exact same preferences or requirements, but I can't wait for easily rendered, reliable multi-column text.
The issue with columns in web browsers is the variance in screen height. Clearly it would be worse to render an entire long-form article in 3 columns, forcing the user to scroll back up to the top of the page to start reading the next column.
This forces the designer to break the content up into multiple column blocks based on a target screen height... so now we have the same problem, only on a different axis.
Your mileage will vary, and I'm not saying that everyone has the exact same preferences or requirements, but I can't wait for easily rendered, reliable multi-column text.
Some references:
http://baymard.com/blog/line-length-readability
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200509/line_length_and...
http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLeng...
http://www.bastoky.com/KeyRelations.htm