There are a few differences between filesystems and object storage in terms of file operations such as find and grep that are not well-suited for object storage. However, the ability to search object storage is not limited from the API. The S3 API can be used with options such as cp to dump the contents of the object to stdout or with grok. In these cases, it becomes useful to extend the APIs. 

The extensions to the APIs may involve standard query operators which enables most browsing and search operations. These make the object storage just as useful to search as the database. Although the operations may enumerate the objects, there is nothing preventing an overlay of metadata about other objects in the bucket if the current metadata does not suffice. 

Another usage of object storage is that it can help virtualize storage on existing devices and remote which enables the object storage to form a layer between the application and the store so that the application can conveniently move between clouds so long as the S3 interface remains the same. Most developers prefer the filesystem for the ability to save with name and hierarchy. In addition, some setup watch on the file systems. In the object storage, we have equivalents of paths and we can enable versioning as well as retention. As long as there are tools, SDK and API for promoting the object storage, we have the ability to finish it as a storage tier as popular as the filesystem.  There is no more a chore to maintain a file-system mount and the location that it points to. The storage is also virtual since it can be stretched over many virtual datacenters.  The ability to complete some tools such as for grep ,   SDK and connectors will improve the usage considerably. 

Perhaps a new usage for Object Storage would be to use it as the base for content-stores such as SharePoint and InfoPath. Currently they use a database server. But most of the operations they do are very similar to browsing an object store. Therefore, this can be substituted in favor of the Object storage and thus keeping it consistent regardless of where they are stored and allowing the library to be migrated with ease.