Whatever happened to...

Here's a fun way to pass time: think about things that at some point in time were labelled 'the next big thing' and then wonder with curiosity about whatever happened to them.

What you're wondering about here are things that were clearly overhyped that never really changed the world in the ways that so many online 'experts' had so confidently forecast they would.

Here are some of our examples:

Whatever happened to...

• the Metaverse? (remember all of those ad industry people who convinced their clients to host a live event on Roblox?)
• NFTs (remember how some marketing gurus called this 'the future of value' and then conned their followers into buying worthless scribbles?)
• Bitcoin (remember when self-appointed 'experts' said that central bank currency was dead and the world's economy would soon run entirely on Bitcoin?)
• X.com (...oh lawd)
• Clubhouse (yes, remember how this thing was going to change the world?)
• The 4th Industrial Revolution (the South African government was totally captured by that mirage)
• DTC
• The Internet of Things (IOT)
• Google+
• MOOCs

The point of the game is that it serves as a reminder that change can very easily be labelled as having the power to change the entire world, but seldom lives up to that radical claim.

Change certainly happens, but more often than not it happens slowly and in unexpected ways.

Hype is fun and it's a nice way to make content go viral (some people even make some money out of ramping up the impact of change), but hype can also be a catalyst for overreaction and the wasting of money.

Now - what seemingly overhyped technologies (that some are promising will have a massive and irreversible impact on the future) are we currently navigating?