If things had just gone a bit differently

Well it wasn't as if they could utilize it. There's tons of stuff we know of right now but can't use because it's just too impracticable. There's tons of stuff that if we could use it would make everything super convenient, end world hunger, minimize poverty, and help reduce or even reverse climate change. The problem is the fiddly bits. The stuff you need to have in order to make the stuff you need, to make the things you want to have.