In March I spent the day at an AI conference and I’ll admit that in the aftermath I’ve suffered from hype fatigue. However, it got me thinking – when was the last time you saw something that genuinely lived up to the hype?

I don’t mean when was the last time you used that line to justify a purchase to you or your significant other. No, I mean the last time you saw something being breathlessly described as a revolution or truly unique and you thought “that’s incredible.”

I’ve been thinking about this heavily and I can’t come up with any examples. Interestingly, most of the things that popped into my head as contenders weren’t actually revolutionary when they came out.

Right now I’m typing this on a wireless Bluetooth keyboard. In an airport. On an iPad. Personally, I’m blown away by how productive you can be outside the office nowadays without hulking a laptop about. But…how revolutionary was the iPad when it came out? I put it to you that it wasn’t, at least not until people started to develop apps and keyboards that brought the magic out.

I think Bluetooth headphones are revolutionary but only now they’ve ironed out the bugs and reduced the size of them. When they first came out they promised much but were rubbish.

Contactless payments? Couldn’t really see the point until it was ubiquitous and, crucially, Apple Pay and Android pay came along. Now you can navigate London on public transport by simply tapping your phone on the gates at every station. Even in ‘rural’ Glasgow I don’t need to take a wallet to work anymore. That’s cool but it took a while to get there.

Ok, how about Tesla? That’s an automobile revolution right there?

Well not really. As you still have to stop to fill it up. All that’s happened is you’ve changed the fuel you are putting in. And it still needs to be serviced; albeit the service is a bit more high-tech but it still needs to be fettled. And don’t even think of going on a tour of the west coast of Scotland in it.

Smartphones? They must be revolutionary? Well the Samsung S10 is a very very cool bit of kit, but then so was the S8. And they are all descended from the bricks of the mid-’90s and it’s taken them a while to get to the stage where they are laptop replacements.

Apple Pencil? No.

Ear Pods? No.

Apple Watch? No.

The sad reality is that all the things that seem revolutionary and game-changing now were a bit rubbish when they came out. We are living in an amazing time full of wonderful machines which make our lives easier, but they aren’t nearly as revolutionary as we tell ourselves.

And this constant overhype just generates a lot of noise and adds to the overall suspicion that we’re being suckered. In my role, I see it all the time. A fatigued business area sees me coming with all my enthusiastic wavey hand nonsense and thinks “here we go, more false IT promises.”

But there is hope. We can change this, but only if we’re honest with ourselves, with each other, and if we start doing so now. The next time you want to tell someone it’s “game-changing tech” or it’s a “revolution” or that it’s going to transform anything, take a step back and admit that it’s a little bit better than whatever they had before.

The irony is that most people aren’t looking for a revolution, they just want what they have, but an improved version. So try it. Embrace brutal tech honesty.

It will feel weird at first but we’ll all win in the end.