Because until now contained ignition has never produced anything meaningful. We've had failed experiment after failed experiment. Now we finally have an experiment with a meaningful more amount of energy out than in.
Is this the right approach? Who knows. There are many fusion designs in the works, and those may ultimately be the right call. Or some yet-to-be-created design. That's even probable. The NIF is for simulating nuclear weapons, not creating energy. None of that takes away from this breakthrough - we've never had meaningfully more output than input on a repeatable basis. It's proof that contained fusion for energy isn't just hypothetical, which will also mean funding & interest will generally increase from this point on.
I think you're setting too high a bar. It's like saying no milestone should be celebrated until we have a working metropolitan-size plant running that's cheaper than anything else. Punch cards in the 1950s are insignificant compared to modern SSDs, yet they were an important step even though we don't use anything like it now. Breakthroughs are breakthroughs.
Is this the right approach? Who knows. There are many fusion designs in the works, and those may ultimately be the right call. Or some yet-to-be-created design. That's even probable. The NIF is for simulating nuclear weapons, not creating energy. None of that takes away from this breakthrough - we've never had meaningfully more output than input on a repeatable basis. It's proof that contained fusion for energy isn't just hypothetical, which will also mean funding & interest will generally increase from this point on.
I think you're setting too high a bar. It's like saying no milestone should be celebrated until we have a working metropolitan-size plant running that's cheaper than anything else. Punch cards in the 1950s are insignificant compared to modern SSDs, yet they were an important step even though we don't use anything like it now. Breakthroughs are breakthroughs.