People need a real reason to use bitcoin over fiat, and so far I haven't seen really compelling reasons. That's heresy, I know, but to me bitcoin works much better as an investment tool and store of value than as a currency to be adopted for spending. But we'll see.
Indeed, spending is not an important use for Bitcoin at this time.
Its value as a medium of international transfer is however very real. When people sell their hard-earned dollars for Bitcoin to send overseas, it's to save time and transfer fees. Even the tx fees people bitch about are minuscule compared to bank or Western Union fees.
Likewise, even if it takes longer than expected for the transaction to be verified a sufficient number of times by the network, it's still just hours and not a week of banking days.
These are very real, very compelling reasons.