Didn't Marc Andreesen also invest in Coinbase? Didn't Marc Andreesen recently put the smackdown to Warren Buffett, in defense of Bitcoin. Didn't the creator of Ripple, Jed McCaleb, leave Ripple to work on a secret Bitcoin project? Isn't it year 5 of Bitcoin. Didn't it take the Internet decades before it was finally widely adopted?
LOL sorry dude. Ripple's not doing anything, Bitcoin's fine and always will be. Just needs time to grow.
One...trick...pony. Maybe better to compare it to AOL or something like that. Not the whole internet.
How is it one trick pony though?
Isn't it a currency, protocol, payment method, distributed ledger, all rolled into one. The internet has some of the same qualities. TCP/IP v4 anyone? When is that getting replaced?
Because the internet is useful in a multitude of ways. Bitcoin just sends and receives Bitcoin. Maybe comparing it to email would be better but even then, we're talking about pre-SMTP email because it can only send to one wallet type. Bitcoin. So it's like a pre-federated email. I'm not knocking Bitcoin per se, just the reference to comparing it to the internet. It will never be as useful in so many ways as the internet. Even if you could dream up the ways, the blockchain could never handle it. Better tech will arise from the proof-of-concept that Bitcoin is but Bitcoin will never be on an "internet" level of functionality and usefulness. It's just a single currency/commodity with one main function. I'm almost surprised this has to be explained. Almost...
Interesting - tell Mastercoin and Etherium just how much of a "one trick pony" bitcoin is, and they'll tell you all of the ways their technology is built FROM bit coin's concepts and extends its capabilities, a symbiotic relationship. They don't aim to replace bitcoin, but extend its functionality. Bitcoin can and will evolve. What is this "one wallet type" thing you're talking about? There are a wide variety of wallets that work with bitcoin and they will continue to become more user friendly, just like any software. The block chain could never handle it? Again, you haven't been paying attention to the efforts of other efforts that won't add excessive bloat to bitcoin, but will still manage the same goals.
As for Bitcoin's usefulness and how it compares to the utility of the internet, I think you're way off the mark there and probably don't truly appreciate how it can potentially serve as significant leverage against central banking and corrupt governments. In that way perhaps its the most important technological advancements in our lifetime.