Short Stories/ Novellas- Yay or Nay?

First of all, I apologize in advance if this post has some serious spelling issue that gets by my spell check- I'm running on zero hours of sleep.

My question for today, though, is: Short stories- love or hate them? Do you think they're pointless? Or are they small packages that contain greatness? Are they worth reviewing? Do you specifically go on searches for a good short story? Or are they things of the past? Antiques that we can treasure but seem pointless to reignite?

Since the beginning of time, I've always loved a good short story- okay, since middle school, anyway, when I read The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (what can I say, I like creepy things). In my opinion, they're are some genuinely awesome and amazing short stories that will stick with me far longer then some full length novels I have read.  However, I would be lying if I said that I went out specifically to find myself a good short story these days. Why? I'm not sure. It's not that I believe it's an outdated notion, I just haven't found a genuinely good short story on my own, outside of the classroom. In a world where anyone can publish just about anything, I've been leery of opening my mind up to the possibilities that there are good short stories out there on amazon for the kindle.

So, why is this on my mind? I aspire to one day write a full length novel (which is always in progress regardless of if it's the SAME novel or not), and I've been considering self-publishing a short-story on Amazon to get some feedback. My concern: is it worth it? Are we in an age were there is still even an audience that appreciates a good short story, or do we now feel like they're a waste of our time?