The next big thing will start out looking like a toy

I always wanted an overlay with the bus schedule. Or GPS navigation. Or whatever.

But does anyone actually dismiss Augmented Reality as a toy? Current implementations are generally at a toy level, but isn't the concept of obvious benefit?

Another symptom: does the US military use it in the field? Augmented Reality also falls into this category.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but I have a hard time envisioning the thought process that led to such a declaration. The damn thing costs as much as a good used car and offers few benefits over walking or riding a bike but comes with a host of limitations. I still don't understand the appeal.

Well, that and any big new thing that's not a toy quickly gets crushed or acquired by an established company.

Engineers invent non-toys all the time. If those inventions are at all useful, someone will pay big bucks (either to the engineer or to a big team of competing engineers) to have it.

All cats have tails, my dog has a tail, ...

Twitter was the next big thing a year ago. At this time time they are officially a big deal.

Is twitter more than a toy? The only real feature they ever added from an outside perspective (someone who doesn't use twitter) is someone elses search technology.

Maybe because of twitter realtime is the next big thing.