If you think about this it is pretty obvious that the mind set and mentality of the majority of Bitcoins users is what is holding Bitcoin back and what could be the downfall of Bitcoin in the long run.
Everyone is so scared of being scammed and go to great lengths to try and 'help' others not to get scammed that it makes Bitcoin an unattractive payment method for shops to accept. Escrow is one of the most absurd things about Bitcoin - what happened to buyer beware? Now it is seller AND buyer beware as you still can't fully trust the escrow. While I accept that if I want to sell something as a new member I have to use escrow - fine for cheap items, I would not risk selling something expensive and sending it to the buyer until the funds were firmly in my possession, this is how it has always been and how it should remain. The buyer should be the one to take on the risk - they can decide not to do this and move on, that is also fine but the buyer should not be able to dictate terms to the seller, it should be the other way around. The buyer is not forced to buy.
Also the method of buying Bitcoin is tedious at best. Until we can effortlessly buy Bitcoin with a credit card - without having to make an account at an exchange, Bitcoin will not reach its full potential, I know I have spoken to friends who don't touch Bitcoin as they cant buy it as they could gold for example.
Until Bitcoin is treated like any other currency or commodity it will not become what it should be.
Stop holding it back, a few people being scammed (usually down to their own stupidity) is and can be for the greater good. I not talking about blatant theft, if someone buys Bitcoin from a new member, with no history, no trust and no proof then it is their fault.
i agree that users are responsible for bitcoins holdup, but the users are also responsible for bitcoins rise. what i have found is that the more knowledge a user has the more helpful he is.
but back to your point. why do you think people are scared of being scammed? because it is happening all the time if you are not cautious. just look at the thread about p2p lending (
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/this-is-why-bitcoin-p2p-lending-is-dead-1625932) at this point trusting is the same as giving away and why would i wan to give away my money?
why would i tell my friends to use bitcoin and trust others, when the chances are high that they get scammed? do you think they will like it and stay with bitcoin and tell their friends, even when they are loosing money?