A funny thing has happened in the technology world, the hype cycle has become far more than a cycle that you watch and smile at. It has become a sales frenzy, while people try to make a name and/or sell you stuff before the idea or product category has even solidified. You can see it all around you, and as has been going on for years, the trend seems to be worsening. I call it a funny thing because the truly revolutionary technologies – like server virtualization – really didn’t need a full-on hype cycle at all. Virtualization just kept growing year after year. People would declare “the year of virtualization!” and the year would pass, with more servers virtualized but no mass shift from one paradigm to the other.