I've been reading and studying about bitcoins for the last eight or nine months. But the crash was what I actually got me the most excited about opening an account and learning to transact with bitcoins. I believe the crash in the recent start of a comeback will do more to validate bitcoins than any thing so far.
The crash is proving that bitcoins can come back on their own, nobody stepped in to bail them out no government or corporation had to back stop them, they have just proven they are a real store of value. On their own merit they have survived a "market cycle" for lack of a better comparison. And though not maintaining the 250 value which was not real "yet". They have still stabilized at a higher value than they were at before.