Yeah and mp3 didn't fundamentally change the fact that you still listen to music with your ears. Video codecs didn't change the fact you watch moving pictures with your eyes. But they did change an awful lot about existing industries and invented new ones.
I personally have never been involved in crypto or bought anything crypto related. I have no incentive either way in its success or failure. I've just lived long enough to see what happens when stuff suddenly goes 100% digital, the pace of iteration, exploration and adoption rapidly speeds up while the costs of doing all three decreases.
I think something interesting will come of it, even if I cannot say what that will be.
For the average person there is no difference between entering credit card info into a web page and using a wallet manager to enter your crypto info into an app, except that the wallet manager is infinitely more insecure and much more cumbersome. Going from a walkman to an ipod/itunes was an actual improvement in storage capacity, usability, accessibility etc.
As for holding out hope something will come out of crypto, using your example of mp3s and digital video, as soon as those were available to the general public they were RAPIDLY and enthusiastically adopted by the entire public. In the last 10+ years the crypto audience has gone from libertarians and fans of illicit drugs to libertarians, gambling addicts, and developers hoping to skill into the "next big thing".
I personally have never been involved in crypto or bought anything crypto related. I have no incentive either way in its success or failure. I've just lived long enough to see what happens when stuff suddenly goes 100% digital, the pace of iteration, exploration and adoption rapidly speeds up while the costs of doing all three decreases.
I think something interesting will come of it, even if I cannot say what that will be.