Every device one has that has integrated circuits (chips) and some of the discrete components was designed based on the quantum mechanical properties of materials that were beyond us until we understood quantum mechanics - sometimes we get too accustomed to the wonder right in front of us. The Electrical Engineering curriculum at my university started with Quantum Electrodynamics for a semester. Figuring out how the sun and stars work required an understanding of the smallest particles, it's all kind of amazing.

I don’t think it was intended to say that quantum effects are never useful.

I interpreted the comment to mean that at at first glance quantum effects get things like instantaneous, FTL communications… but those most dramatic possibilities never work out when you dig deeper.

Let me put it this way: my axiom is aimed at people (like me) who read popular science books, skim the textbooks, and think there might be a way to make a time machine or if not that then “at least something interesting” of a similar nature.

If you have a graduate degree in quantum mechanics or work for Intel as a designer/engineer of microprocessors then yeah, you can consider yourself exempt.