All transactions can't go off chain unless there is a single monopolistic entity handling all Bitcoin transactions.  Even if there were only two entities handling all the transactions they would need the blockchain to settle transactions between the entities.

The entire point of Bitcoin was to serve as a means of exchange in a network that is:

• Distributed
• Uncontrolled
• In no need of trust to transact

Off chain transactions however cannot be implemented unless you have a single entity that controls and keep track of the transactions, which means this abstraction makes transacting:

• Centralized
• Controlled
• Reliant on trust

Which in turn essentially means off chain transactions are big f-you to the concept of Bitcoin. If you are okay with this, then you might as well just use USD and PayPal, what's the difference?

I applaud inputs.io for trying to do what they do, which for an online wallet is innovative and overall a great business idea; I just don't see the future of Bitcoin there. What we need is simply super lighting fast confirmations that can work in the current Bitcoin network as it is.

Keep in mind off chain networks will still allow people to transact during 51% attacks. It just takes 2 pools being compromised for Bitcoin to be 51%'d

Offchain transactions has it's benefits and drawbacks. Onchain + offchain is the best, not just onchain or offchain.

ultimately the transactions must be settled in the block chain.

if some technology is claiming to take transactions completely off the chain, then you must consider the weaknesses inherent in the technology in question.

Off-chain solutions MUST complement on-chain transactions in order for Bitcoin to be mass adopted.  It seems like many in the bitcoin community suffer from severe tunnel-vision, and have lost complete sight of the big picture.

What is bitcoin competing against?  We are competing against government-issued currencies.  

What can people do with government-issued currences that they can't do with bitcoin?  They can exchange them INSTANTLY, and store them safely in a bank (3rd party).

In order to compete with the likes of PayPal, we need bitcoin to be as CONVENIENT as PayPal. Currently:

- Maintaining a secure bitcoin wallet has a higher level of difficulty than maintaining a PayPal account.  
- Sending coins to a public key is more confusing than sending money to an e-mail address via PayPal.
- Waiting 10+ minutes for transactions to confirm is 10 minutes longer than PayPal transactions.

While the blockchain offers decentralization and pseudonymity, it must be complemented with off-chain solutions if we want people to be able to use bitcoins with the same ease as, say, US Dollars PayPal.

Good try, but you're missing something in this analysis.

Off-chain transactions can work, because anybody can set up their own 'supernode'. Therefore it keeps the P2P values of bitcoin.

Sure, bitcoin becomes more centralized, but still a hell of a lot less centralized than our existing banking system.

Not possible. As far as my understanding goes.

You are aware that we (Inputs) don't charge a 1% or whatever fee compared to BitPay, Coinbase, BIPS, whatever?

Trust is always optional. The blockchain isn't going away, and there always will be bitcoin addresses and public private key cryptorgraphy

Impossible for that to happen.

This is no different than trusting a third party service. Do you seriously want to broadcast all of your transactions to the whole wide world and tie them to your email address?