Does that mean that "in the near future" I'll be able to make a new character and he'll be able to train some skills without having to die a few times trying to kill a rat first?

I know that there are lots of skills that are on the list but don't do anything, so why do they have options that allow you to start with ranks in useless skills?  For example, I have a character who was the son of a famous jeweler, so he has several ranks in the gemcutting skill, which is useless.  I think that I'll just have to make a new character that's the same except with a different kind of father.  But, back to the point, wouldn't it make more sense for them to make at least some of the skills that are currently inactive active. to balance the economy with other types of wares?