too late for synthetic?

My 2001 Civic LX manual transmission has almost 60k miles. I think the
original engine oil was special because the dealership refused to
change it until I had about 7500 miles. Then I changed the oil every
5000-6000 miles, I figured my driving is between normal (10k) and
severe (5k).

Anyway, I read here about synthetic, and while I am going to search and
find more information about synthetic oil (benefits, cost, oil change
frequency, drawbacks), I though to ask you guys if it is too late for
this engine to switch to synthetic.

if synthetic was all that great, why does not Honda use synthetic right
from the beginning? just curious.

thanks