Well it certainly did not happen in way other technologies happened - smartphones, social networks, laptops, desktops... VR is definitely slower and smaller market right now than these other devices were after similar number of years.
I’m ok with VR being slow. There is no need to rush it. There are some amazing VR experiences. Half Life Alyx while standing, despite it being a disaster overall VirtaMate can have some really interesting erotic setups, beat saber is the only music game I’ve ever really got into, and… IDK, some things are just not possible outside of VR like SuperHot VR being a totally different everything than it’s normal version.
I would like there to be more quality content but sooner, but I think it’s largely in a grey area between hardware not being good enough yet and software being expensive to develop.
I used to poopoo it, but I’ve come around that VR is in the cards, just slowly.
And I'd say VR is advancing way faster than desktops, and maybe even the rest of your list. You just don't remember the products that existed when they were still fairly niche, like the iPaq, Amstrad and Friendster.
I lived through the beginning and was early adopter of laptops as well as smartphones. I had a laptop when others had a 386 PC, and I had a smartphone when others had monochromatic Nokias. I also saw desktops happen - not from the beginning, but it certainly looked differently.
I'm not writing VR off though. Boom can still happen, and I think it will - I just think that it won't look anything like today's headset. My money's on lasers-into-eyes (virtual retinal display) VR.
