It IS relevant when you have only 2 blocks created in 40 minutes (like right now) and a merchant that requires at least 3 or 4 confirmations.
The Bitcoin confirmation time is about protecting from double spends. So 1 confirmation means it's unlikely the transaction could be reversed as in you would need a hell of a lot of mining power. 6 confirmations and you're transaction is pretty solid.
So a merchant would generally only wait for confirmations for large transactions. For small transactions it is enough to detect the transaction is in the network, i.e. more or less instant.
Yes i agree that confirmation on bitcoin transaction is been made for security purposes which avoid unnecessary usage of bitcoin. But i rather wait on conformation in transaction than to lose on not need thing or doubling transaction. But for this kind of issue i want to build an mind set that the problem that users of bitcoin may encounter always depends on the specific country where they lived in and legal issues that the country may provide and implement.