You definitely do want it to be instant, but this isn't quite an apples-to-apples comparison.

That two-hour figure is the amount to get the transaction to the point of irreversibility so it can be re-spent without worry. The equivalent figure for credit cards is ~45 days and checks can take a week to clear.

But you're right, making transactions on chain is not going to be practical in an untrusted environment and it still depends on intermediaries.