Reading many of these comments just reminds me of the blind, ideological and delusional thinking of the Napster cults. Faith is necessary I get that but some of this stuff is just craziness. The more I read these forums, the shorter Bitcoins lifespan becomes to me. I''m currently at 2 years tops. That's not because Bitcoin is not awesome, it's simply that too many people behind it are irrational and lack common sense and logic.
I plan to make as much as I can off of it while I can, but my sights are already set on the "iTunes" of crypto.
All new ideas attract some people who think the end of the world is nigh. That doesn't change the fact that some new ideas are good ideas. Bitcoin is a good idea in my opinion as it provides an effective alternative to fiat currency. As such, it only takes a few dictators or billionaires to use it to avoid confiscation and the value will shoot to well over $10,000 per coin.
Concrete example: Hosni Mubarak had $70 billion confiscated when he lost power. If he had been able to get even a quarter of that into Bitcoin, it would still be his and Bitcoin would be worth over $20,000 each.
So hang in there - this idea has more potential for massive gains than any other investment opportunity around today.
I'm not sure, but maybe Coinseeker is talking about some iAltCoin? I'm not sure about this. Bitcoin has some problems, but a new coin that is substantially better is something that cannot be forced. It's one thing to make the best phone by innovating and doing things the right way (iPhone back in the days), but a genius innovation like bitcoin cannot be bought with money and good engineering.
If some altCoin comes along that really is substantially better (it's not amazonCoin, litecoin, ripple (ok, not a coin, but a competitor of sorts) or yaccoin afaik) then I will embrace it even if it means my bitcoin stash is worthless because it would mean we then have even better money at our disposal.
About early adopters sitting back, not using their stash and brain power to develop bitcoin infrastructure: I'm pretty sure they are very active. Who do you think these people are behind all the projects? Do you really think someone in the early days discovered the potential of bitcoin, acquired a huge stash and now is content to do some non-bitcoin related work or no work at all? I'd think he'd like to be part of this awesome piece of history. There might be exceptions, but I would guess the bulk of the early adopters are among us, helping the cause any way they can and trying to profit even more. Hell, maybe even Satoshi is still active (might be dpr as someone suggested, although I doubt it).
