Lightning was overhyped before it existed, then boring while people focused on Store of Value, and then back in vogue in some parts. I still think people with functional banking systems don't care about spending Bitcoin (and thus, Lightning).

Progress often works this way: my Linux experience was the same. In 1998/99 there was an unjustified hype, at the tail end of the dot com boom. Then it was tumbleweeds: all those "trial projects" vanished, and so did the headlines. But the developers barely slowed down, and in the 2008 crisis when businesses were actually trying to save money, Linux was ready for them.

Perhaps bitcoin payments today are for the weird: those with strange tastes, or unloved by the current systems. That's OK, we're here for you if (when?) that changes.