hoses instead of pipes
If you look at the picture below you will see pex tubing.  This has become the industry norm in some areas of the US - I know some countries have adopted similar things and some haven't.  The compression fittings are supposedly made to last longer than than a soldered copper joints - jury is still out on that.  Let's see what complaints there are in 10-20 years.

My problem with these is the drinking water.  Copper does a great job of not letting bacteria grow in it and it has been used for years with no issues.  All of the plumbing going to sinks in my house is copper.  I use pex for toilets, showers, and things like that.



Some good links on coppers anti-bacterial qualities:


HowStuffWorks
ScienceDaily
Wikipedia


On the other side of the argument is the idea that PEX has issues in biofilm formation and passing on toxins/bacteria - California study here.  This side, I don't really buy that much because you can read counters for most things.  I just know that copper has a lot of good qualities and installing it isn't that big of a deal so will leave that for the main and drinking water.