I think where many people may be getting confused (especially the marketeers that must sell XML-based products) is that XML is not really a "technology". It's not like, say, a microchip that allows problems to be solved that couldn't (easily) be solved before. (Or even, say, a sandwich, which suddenly allows you to take your ham and cheese everywhere.) It's just a data format, and one that may or may not be the best for any particular use.
There is, fundamentally and provably, no technology enabled by XML that could not also be solved by using any other data format. There is no (technical) reason why formats such as SGML, RTF, or even Microsoft Word n.n could not be used to solve represent the same textual data, in much the same way. And one could argue (strongly) that any individual database format (Oracle data files, Mysql data files, etc., etc.) is _technologically_ superior to XML for data exchange, especially considering the much stronger typing allowed.
What XML has -- what it offers that can't be as easily done using these other tools -- is a standard syntax that is (a) not owned by any one company, not tied to any one product or industry, and is publicly defined so that anyone can use and implement it, and (b) simple and textual, that is, inspectable by human developers with a minimal set of tools. But that's it.
Of course, the mere fact of having a standard that, through it's simplicity and openness, has become practically omnipresent _is_ of immense utility, but only for the thing it was designed for; data exchange between any implementing parties. That's a pretty good thing, but it's hard to make a marketing case for a business based on that, so we're stuck with the typical cry of "business revolution", for now. (Has there ever been any industry that has not been in a state of "revolution", according to it's evangelists?)
The most dangerous thing facing any standard is it's own evangelists who -- if they promise things that can't actually be delivered -- doom the standard to being tossed into the "failure" pile, for not living up to their absurd claims.
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