The "state selector" they invented to sort a beam of silver atoms into two separate spin directions was used later to discover phenomena that would lead to MRI imaging, atomic clocks, and in the 1950s to create the first MASER, the demonstration of which led to the invention of the laser.
Bose-Einstein condensates, with their startling and outlandish properties (like exhibiting an index of refraction measured in the tens of millions), will undoubtedly be the source of astonishing commercial opportunities, although it may well take decades for these to emerge. They will in effect do for matter what the laser did for light; lasers add trillions of dollars of value every year to human civilization.
A technology of this scale takes a long time to develop. For comparison, I cite the example of semiconductors. The first hints that interesting things were happening at the surface of impure crystals arose in the early days of radio, with "crystal sets" that snatched demodulated AM radio signals from the air without any external power; these used a fine, sharp metal wire in contact with a crystal of Galina (lead sulfide). The current-rectification effect that made this possible was first observed in the late 1800s, but it took more than fifty years to turn it from a laboratory curiosity to a hobby, and then to a theory, and finally into a product (the transistor) which led to a whole range of products (including the microprocessor) the development of which is still undergoing rapid evolution today, nearly 150 years later. Tens of thousands of people worldwide make their livings directly producing semiconductors, and human civilization as a whole has been transformed and enriched by this technology.
BECs could be even bigger, but will take a long time to make it from laboratory to commercial application. Who will be the Shockley, Bardeen and Bratton of BECs? Who will be the Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore of this technology? My children may live to know their names. I hope there is still an America when they make themselves known.
Kurzweil points out that these things (e.g. the pace of semiconductor development) are exponential curves. In the early days progress is slow but the speed of progress accelerates over time.
The point being; Maybe we are further along the curve than you propose, and we’ll see dramatic progress sooner.
Even a single dimension, communication speed, puts us far beyond the pace of technological advancement at the time of Shockley et. al.