The information technology industry is about to face its toughest period since the dotcom bust.

Corporate IT budgets remain the big, boring engine that powers Silicon Valley and the rest of the technology industry. Now, with a pronounced economic slowdown in the US and the UK, the engine has started to sputter.

The industry's seemingly endless hype cycle feeds optimism: there's always a new computing architecture about to go mainstream, a new must-have gadget, and a Next Big Thing.

But there is no escaping the fact that, after five years of steady growth, tougher times lie ahead.

"We're just putting our heads down, and hoping that in two or three years things will have re-emerged." For many Web 2.0 hopefuls, that time will never come.