[achenet]

Well some of it is used a LOT - for example all of digital technology is basically applied boolean algebra, and calculus is the base of physics. Granted, the original research for those was 200-400 years ago, but the current day applications are everywhere.

So while a new research paper on some obscure subset of point-set topology may not appear to be useful today, it is possible that in the future it will be. :)

EDIT: misread your comment as "widely used", not "widely read", my bad.