Does no one consider that there are too many coins focused on privacy/anonymity. The market for these coins are limited, and those likely to be interested are already involved. The majority of the public just aren't concerned very much, else Facebook et al wouldn't be multi-billion $ companies. Whatever short term gains they have, the long term prospects are probably going to be below average for all but the top few.
That is a valid concern, but first of all, this isn't just a coin comparison. It is a comparison of features and enhancements. Some of which, for all we know, may be implemented in bitcoin itself one day. In addition, I would make the counter-argument and ask if there are perhaps too many coins which aren't private?
A quick example, we were just discussing OBFS4. This was developed for use in some countries, such as China, which will monitor the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and have in many ways already started to ban it:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2017/11/02/cryptocurrency-exchanges-officially-dead-in-china/#292786fe2a83So...China's pretty big.
Russia's not far behind.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/putin-condemns-bitcoin-calls-for-russian-ban-of-digital-currenciesRussia's pretty big too.
Do you think we will ever hear about offenders in those countries that rubbed their government the wrong way? Of course not, we will never hear from them and neither will anyone else, ever.
Here's another 6 countries that have banned it:
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/12/03/6-countries-where-bitcoin-is-banned.aspxAnd in North America? There are possibly worse things than bans....there are taxes, and other ways you can be persecuted. Have you used coinbase? This IRS already knows you have. I'm not saying taxes are bad, but the monitoring part is. I would expect basically half the people on this forum will get audited.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16717416/us-coinbase-irs-recordsAlso, please note that I have drawn a distinction between anonymity and privacy. When you buy a pizza, does everyone in the world have a right to know you bought that pizza? Is that necessary? There are privacy considerations as well.
Anyway, I can understand the concern and I understand why the public ledger is so appealing. But there is definitely another side to it, to say the very least.