To be honest I am sick of every other alt that is similar to btc nothing special. It would be much better to look to use them than just to pump them and turn money around. Money can't buy you happiness. But I also happen to know that btc and alts are just 70% speculation with an investors folding in the market. But much better is to be able to use them, I think that this is what btc have the most - usability over other alts.
I do get what you're feeling and I must admit my early weeks into this forum also gave me that same hopeless feeling about alts. I'm glad I stuck around a little longer and took interest in some of the older ones (my very own special Big Four). I haven't had any practical use in terms of their individual techs for the ones I've kept small holding of except very recently when trying out some of the features of Byteball (using a simple contract to eliminate need for escrow). I know it's not unique to it but had I not used it, I would never have had a chance to try.
Don't give up hope for tech, you'll be in for pleasant surprises!