Those are some valid points. I dont really believe that SMTs will bring upon any great change to STEEM or that they will be a game changer in the crypto space but i still see them as a massive improvement to the overall ecosystem of Steem.
They will provide options just like Tribes did.
Maybe try seeing it like this:

Steem vs Steem + smart contracts.

What is better?
I think the second option is.

SMTs should have come 2 years ago, that is true, but even if its late its still a positive addition that might or might not affect price.
You can already know what to expect from SMTs based on Steem-Engine tokens but even those Steem-engine tokens provided some value overall.

We cant let ourselves be stuck in this frame of mind:

If its not a game changer its no good.

Any positive addition is good and it shows growth.

On your remarks about content creation and creators i agree to a degree. I will comment on how creators in specific areas arent appreciated as some of those that write steem topics but i will chalk that up to the platform being small. Interest always seems to move to that which is appealing to the broadest audience and on Steem that is the topic of "Steem".
On one side of things i know i will never be able to top the trending page for those exact reasons and in my 2 years here i have maybe once gotten to top 10 and i think im pretty good at what i do. But also i have to say that Steem is the reason im a content creator at all. Steem bought me my 200$ mic, my 100$ lighting, mic stand, it will pay for my 800$ camera. It motivated me to learn to work in audacity, in Da Vinci resolve, how to cut and edit videos. How to improve my skills and knowledge on things i knew nothing about.

All those things you said about content creation:

The creators hardest hit are the ones down at the bottom who are spending their time creating content

....it might be true, but lets not for a second dismiss what Steem has done for content creators like me and others. Steem provides value for content creators, it might not provide it at a high efficiency, but indeed it does..

Just wanted to chip in. I havent commented in a while. :)