Friday, January 14, 2011

The Hype Cycle

Despite working in the technology arena, I somehow never knew about the technology Hype Cycle until today. Or perhaps I had read about it in passing and never given it a second thought.

According to technology research firm Gartner, which coined the term, the hype cycle is a "graphic representation of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications, and how they are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new opportunities."



Their website explains the cycle in detail. Very interesting from a business perspective. It applies to upcoming wireless technologies like LTE and devices such as the iPad.

Tongue firmly in cheek, I think the chart can be slightly modified to represent other life situations as well. 
For instance,



Or, a more identifiable situation like the following. :P





4 comments:

  1. Ha ha ! I gave this curve more than a passing eye but never thought this relates so closely to behavioral economics, especially for that draconian MBA :)

    http://www.techiteasy.org/2008/08/25/riding-the-hype-cycle-behavioral-economics/

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  2. Ha thanks for the link Saurabh. I wish I could read the paper which explains why behavioral economics fits the hype cycle. I did get some good book recommendations from the article though.

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  3. Why are so many people world over landing on this post? There seem to be at least 10 hits a week on this post ever since I posted it! Where are people being directed from?

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