It's so true. I view this as the difference between an app and a protocol.
Steemit as an app, not that impressive. Steem as a protocol, holy shit it's going to change the world.
The same goes for some others - LBRY has an incredible protocol to build upon, for example. Even ethereum's value is all based on the hope that it will be useful in the future as a platform for something useful.
People are already making applications for Steemit like Dtube and Mangosteem. I am not sure these will be the next big successors but they are being one of the first in their kind. Once EOS comes around it will probably make such platforms as standalones seperated from Steem, unless of course Steem as a currency would be linked. But either way Steemit itself will most likely thrive alongside those other services as a blogging website and things like crypto news. So yeah, it will continue to grow! ^.^
Those applications and Steemit will be able to adopt and utilise the EOS platform which will bring paralyzable commercial scale dapps and an abundance of capacity. I think the technology is impotant for synergy and mainstream adoption. IMHO it is all about the technology enabling distribution and more...