This was my experience too, especially being a bit of a short ar5e myself. A wrist injury eventually made playing 'normal' basses all but impossible for more than a few minutes. A mate of mine who works in health care, and is also a bass player, suggested trying a short scale to see if that helped - and it was a revelation. I could now play for hours without cramping up and the tighter fret spacing made playing feel ridiculously easy compared to my old big basses, so much so that whenever I pick up a 34" scale bass it feels cumbersome and impractical. I've slowly replaced all of basses with short scales now and can't see myself ever owning anything longer. Fnarr.
While it could be a passing fad, I suspect that there will be a few existing players either picking one up or even transitioning exclusively (another mate of mine who's also been playing for decades is doing just that), not to mention new starters being attracted to the ease of playing compared to the standard monoliths. After all, it's a legal requirement that every short scale review must describe the bass as 'fun'! So I think they'll be hanging around for a while yet. While they may not eradicate the standard scale bass, they do the same thing in a smaller, lighter, more comfortable and easier to play format. Why make life difficult for yourself?