But they can't use NEM without a node so that seriously holds them back.
That isn't true actually :)
You don't have to run the node, as long as you know some node you can trust.
I believe this will sooner or later become kind of a service, where either
a) people will be offering to connect to their nodes
b) people will be offering running nodes for you
Thanks for clearing that up. I knew you had already thought of it ages ago.