Your points are very valid and I think it's time for those who have vested so much money into the platform to put in much effort to see it work except they are not in for the long run. Like @yogaanarchista said, it's a revolutionary platform so it's bound to have teething problem, but these shouldn't lead to its untimely demise. If majority of brilliant new users keep getting ignored, Steemit will eventually go light on content and we will be left with half hearted Contents using tricks and commections to get up voted and paid. I believe Steemits founder, with the biggest stakeholders should consistently sit to review the state of the platform and tweak how it works to ensure its sustainable, otherwise, some of us will just get a little money for a year or two and the platform is gone and that will be sad.