True, Steem remains more of a store of value than a payment method. But that could change rapidly. Already now, we Steemians can send Steem easily, and the transaction is recorded and verified very quickly.

Of course, it remains impossible to send Steem to a NON-Steemian. But that is a hurdle that can be overcome with the further development of exchanges, which should be able to convert the payment into whatever currency the payee chooses to receive payment in.