Well it was wasn’t it? There was a massive boom where loads of companies over promised what they would achieve, followed by a crash when everyone realised lots of them couldn’t, followed by stability for the smaller number that could.
It was the very definition of a hype cycle as far as I can see. Hype cycle doesn’t mean “useless and will go away”, you have the second upward curve and then productivity.
I don’t disagree, but a lot of “analysis” was not that nuanced. At one time I worked for a company where 90% of revenue was from printed periodicals. Smart, capable executives assured the whole company that the internet was not a threat, just something college kids used for fun.
Colloquial, dismissive use of “hype cycle” does not usually mean “this will change the world but foolish things, soon forgotten, will also be done in the short term”. Though I agree a deeper understanding of the term can suggest that.
