Exactly. Imagine being a student given a tome of knowledge called something like, 'Principia Mathematica'. Upon receipt of the book you say, "I will soon be able to make engines efficient, structures solid, understand the planet's rotation, and make mathematical models precise." Then two days later someone asks how to draw up plans for a rocket ship to the moon. You'll get there, but you have to read the text first, then you have to understand it, then you have to experiment with it, and then you will (go to the moon). Nothing in your prediction was unrealistic, but it takes time to learn.

A few decades ago ago we read our first line of source code from a computer from the year 2,000,000,000 - some pretty advanced technology that was just handed to us. Two decades ago we did our very first read-through of an entire human. The reading itself was not particularly productive. We already knew some of the most important lines of code, from the decades before, and we annotated a lot more sections that are critical for basic function. We've even traced a few bugs back to the source code - especially those bugs where 1) the source was unusually easy to read [1], or 2) the bug was really bad [2]. As of this year we've developed compilers to enable us to write and run small, multi-line programs of our own composition [3]. We're doing really well in trying to read, comprehend, manipulate, and act on some of the most sophisticated technology ever presented to us. More sophisticated by orders of magnitude than the silicon in Nvidia's new graphics card (16nm 2d dry feature size [4], vs 0.1nm, 3D wet feature size [5]) . Reverse engineering it takes a bit of time, and yet we've already put that knowledge to significant use.

Further, once we do get our working knowledge up and running there will be a significant outpouring of function from having reverse-engineered such technology. But of course there is a lag time in the millions of lab-hours being poured into understanding that technology before we can actually use it. Not dissimilar to the rapid advances in science-fiction when a race reverse-engineers an advanced alien technology. How long did it take us to build The Machine in Sagan's 'Contact'? We will not just cure cancer, but we will be capable of all sorts of new feats. Purchasing the textbook doesn't make one a master - it's the study, the hard work, and the practice.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRCA_mutation

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11417689

[4] http://wccftech.com/rumor-nvidia-pascal-gtx-1080-gddr5x-gtx-...

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_%28electron_density...