Ask HN: (Over)hyped technologies that delivered
With technology, there is always hype - and that&#x27;s great, we all want it to be exciting. And then, for any hyped technology (AI, self-driving cars, energy production, etc) there quickly form two camps, arguing whether the technology will deliver on the hype.<p>So I&#x27;m trying to gather some data! How many hyped technologies since, say, 1940s, actually delivered on the hype, mostly at least? The examples I can think of mostly didn&#x27;t, but I must be missing some.<p>Some things that IMO didn&#x27;t deliver (so far at least) include:<p>- nuclear fusion<p>- quantum computing<p>- nuclear power, as the too-cheap-to-meter power source<p>- self-driving cars (so far - we have great technology but nothing resembling an autonomous car for the masses)<p>- space travel for the masses (as predicted in 60s and 70s)<p>- social media, which seem already in decline<p>On the flipside the Internet delivered far, far more than anyone could imagine in it&#x27;s early days. So I wonder how good are hypes as predictors of future performance.