I think this is a far better example than the b/w to colour and silent to audio examples.

If you've ever listen to those "stereoized" beatles recordings they sound horrible. For a while the industry tried to produce stuff that showcased the new technology with varying results. Yet the industry finally settled down after the initial gimick stage and started producing content that is now the standard. This was done without any real change in the underlying technology.

3D could go either way, but some of us enjoy the gimmick and will be happy to see it played out. Eventually I think we will move fully to 3D just because the profit motive for companies. Consumers want 3D and are willing to pay for it and I don't think that is going to change on a large level. The only question is will it be a vinyl to CD sort of change or a mono to stereo change.

BTW I always thought the main motive for 3D was that it was harder for 'pirates' to copy as it is only distributed on bluray (which is meant to have better cp) and you can't exactly take a camera into the movies to copy it.