What functional technical innovation is there in ETH that is currently available for use? Some real, usable product that people actively utilize today that's unique and has tangible value?
You can see applications built on it -- decentralized exchanges, prediction markets, derivates/derivative markets, gambling sites and so on.
It's kinda ridiculous to demand "actively utilize today", although some apps are in active use, but they are pretty niche.
At this point we talk about what _can_ be built, not what _was_ built.
As for 'tangible value', tangibility is very subjective. There are still people who claim that Bitcoin has no tangible value, but I bet if you were living in a country with an unstable banking system, ridiculous capital controls and high crime rate, you'd see Bitcoin's value
Ethereum is actually technically inferior as a platform for tokens, but it has a fantastic community which is very much into tokens, so that's why it is much bigger than what you see on other platforms (BitShares, Nxt, Omni, Counterparty, WAVES...)