"Was meant to be" amounts to your own view. The software isn't even called 1.0 yet, and the core developers all say the important applications are a couple of years away.

Yes, Bitcoin was probably hurt by the mania surrounding $1000. Had it gone to $180 from $30, without the spike, there would be calls of tulip mania instead.

Is it too early to build applications on top of Bitcoin? No, I don't think so, some wants to be in early. But to call "the year of" on what amounts to beta software and VC backed startups is a bit much.