It's only a perceived hindrance because there isn't an end-to-end system of Bitcoin being actively used at the moment for anything other than maybe some developers and miners that "get paid" in it. With more adoption and people getting paid in it, it will make sense in the respect that you're talking about.
Right now, however, there are early adopters who could live off their Bitcoin entirely, and some in fact do so. It may take years for folks today to see a significant return on their "investment" in Bitcoin compared to the early adopters who may now live off their coin entirely, but once this happens for the accumulators today, they will also want goods and services, so there will always be merchants adding support for it.
In the past, economies based on gold and silver had coinage, but because of the weight, it didn't make sense to carry your entire "gross worth" on you or in your pocket. Bitcoin solves that problem by being a virtual commodity. It certainly turned the tables on fiat, at least, and will continue to do so. There are always going to be people that want a currency that holds value even after the government that represents it dies.