I think it is a great result, but at the risk of sounding negative, I just can't see how this is a big deal. It was touted as the first time we've seen fusion ignition and is therefore a proof-of-concept. But as far as I can tell, what they did was make a tiny fusion bomb. We already know that we can get fusion ignition, namely the actual thermonuclear bomb. I don't see how one is going to scale up miniature bombs into power generation, especially when you have to use X-ray lasers (if I remember correctly) with a 1% efficiency.

It seems to me that the technical achievement is creating a fusion bomb that is small enough to be not destroy anything. What these little bombs are good for is unclear to me. But I would not have imagined blasting droplets of tin to get X-rays to etch microchips, either. Nor would I have thought that one could drive around at 60 mph by means of a bunch of discrete gasoline explosions, either. So who knows!