You've got it half right, the term "exciting" is being used for "exotic" or "novel" (and note that these are subjective: they depend on the history of the speak

You've got it half right, the term "exciting" is being used for "exotic" or "novel" (and note that these are subjective: they depend on the history of the speaker) while "boring" means something more like "reliable" or "low-maintenance" (which is much less subjective and can be more-or-less measured and quantified in hard data.) In any event, the crux of the issue is how your tech handles failures. A new-fangled exotic technology that works really well is "boring". Case in point: Elm lang. Very exotic, totally boring.