Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The burst of the Big Data bubble, and do we need the hype, anyway?

So, now I'm seeing some buzz over Twitter that the Big Data disillusionment is starting now. Frankly, I've been wondering when this would happen. Of course, the next stage involves making strategic investments in Big Data resources, and having these resources quietly being used effectively, at least if Big Data follows technologies such as neural networks, Java, etc. So the theory goes, all surviving technologies follow a pattern of hype, disillusionment, and then quiet acceptance.

Did we really need this period of hype? I can understand companies hype up a technology to maintain interest while they try to make their offerings mature, and overhyping usually leads to disillusionment, but I wonder if there is a different path. R, Python, and some other open projects seem to have flattened the hype hill and disillusionment valley, probably because the larger number of people hacking the inside generates its own interest and maturity mechanism.

Anyway, I look forward to the maturing of big data at least until the privacy concerns generate widespread panic.