Cloud computing continues to hover around a peak of inflated expectations, but it is headed down toward a trough of disillusionment, according to Gartner's latest "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies" report. Other over-hyped technologies on their way to disillusioning us include mesh networks, micro-blogging and video telepresence, Gartner says.

The market research company's annual "Hype Cycle" report looks at 1,800 technologies and trends, charting the reaction they elicit, from over-enthusiasm to disenchantment to eventual understanding. Gartner predicts that it will be two to five years before cloud computing reaches mainstream adoption. Some of the other technologies on the same adoption schedule include speech recognition, biometric authentication, Internet micropayment systems and gesture recognition. 

Some of the technologies Gartner expects to hit mainstream adoption in five to 10 years include: Public virtual worlds, 4G wireless, augmented reality, speech-to-speech translation, 3D printing and video search. It will be more than 10 years before mesh networks, tangible user interfaces or mobile robots meet that level of adoption, the researchers predict.

In the meantime, broadband over power lines--a one-time highly hyped technology--is predicted to become obsolete before it ever reaches a productive stage.

For more:
- see Gartner's announcement on its Hype Cycle report

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