GPs; Generally Pointless?

Whenever I go to see my GP I leave feeling like I've just given a seminar on one ailment or another - and most worryingly - to an utterly inept audience. How is it I'm the expert in this scenario, and did they sleep through all nine or ten years of medical school?

In a typical consultation, after explaining the problem at great length I'll pause to allow them to interject with some sort of advice, only they don't. They sit there in awkward silence looking like vulnerable newborn kittens waiting to be spoon-fed. I've even had one doctor ask, "well what do you expect me to do?". I don't know how to answer that civilly.

I've come to the stage where I'll do my own research online, and then visit the doctor with a particular medication in mind I want to try and just ask him or her to prescribe it. They seem to appreciate the fact that I've totally lost faith in their competence because it means they can still get paid £100k+ a year without having to do anything other than scribble on a pad, which must reassure them no end.
If you're lucky you'll get one that's willing to refer you to a specialist for tests, though if the results come back negative they'll glibly inform you, "the computer says no" and point out the location of their office door.

This leaves me wondering, who still goes to their GP for advice these days. Those not acquainted with The Google? The illiterate perhaps? Would it not be cheaper and more convenient to replace them with drug vending machines?