Ripple is both a (scam & premined) currency (XRPs) and a confidence / debt based payment system. It's not going to be used because it's going to collapse when users realize that "1 BTC debt" is not "1 BTC".
I can issue 1 billion bitcoins if I wanted to for example.
That's the same thing that was said about Bitcoin by some and still is. I can issue 1 billion bitcoins if I wanted to for example.
Time will tell, as usual...(BTW, the billion bitcoins you would issue would be actually poly-bitcoins IOU's, and not gateway bitcoin IOU's, and all ripplers would know that. So, your poly-bitcoins IOU's would be known to be worthless compared to the gateway bitcoin IOU's, which could be redeemed for real bitcoins from that gateway...)
Ripple is a tool for doing things that Bitcoin can't. It's not "premined" because there is no mining in it.
If you look at who is developing it (jed - the founder of MtGox), and the idea that it's based on, (Ryan Fugger) it's clear that labeling it a "scam" is a matter of opinion. Whatever can be said about those guys, i would NOT call them scammers.
It's funny how a user with an account that's not even a week old thinks himself qualified to say what's a scam and what will collapse and be used in the virtual currency world...
