Research firm Gartner uses a "hype cycles" model to gauge the maturity of a technology, which begins with a stage of hype, followed by disillusionment and finally leveled out at understanding. Gartner claims mobile TV, IPTV and VoIP are all right at the top of their hype curves right now--at "the peak of inflated expectations." Each is ripe for a healthy down cycle of disillusionment. While I agree with them on mobile TV, I don't see too many outlandish claims about IPTV floating around. There is very little talk of millions of channels, watching your grandson play baseball on your family's own designated channel, etc. anymore. If anything, operators and the industry needs to concentrate more on differentiating features beyond multiple camera angles.
For more on Gartner's hype cycles theory:
- read this article from Silicon.com