Java got its popularity over C,C++ as it enabled developers to focus on the business logic rather than the low level concerns like memory management. With Microservices this was drifting away. Service Mesh frameworks are trying to bring back that promise. So I will not term it as a pure hype.

I do agree that most of the articles follow the hype rather than rationally evaluating a framework. I guess it goes with the fact that most of us are followers only and not the trend setters.

Also the complexity of systems is only increasing with businesses expansion, competition and mergers. Businesses are dealing with many more systems, locations, teams and integrations. With multiple pieces moving around very few people have the clear big picture, including the CIOs. So I cannot blame just the authors.