The entire point of a appreciating currency is to by-pass the whole chicken and the egg problem. That's one of the reasons Satoshi is so brilliant. If the currency is worth an astronomical sum, both consumers and merchants will jump at it.
This is not to say we shouldn't work on the problems the OP list. I'm just not so concerned about "running out of time".
More or less this.
We just have to worry about the social and political aspects of Bitcoin so it sails smoothly to acceptance.
This thread has its place though. Speeding up this process is of course good for early adopters.