Here's what I don't get. Why the need for a native Ripple currency inside this system, if the stated purpose is a system to make it safe for transfering BTC, dollars, etc.. What would be the point of the "native" ripple currency? What's the point of "Ethers" in ethereum? What's the point in having 500 different "altcoins"?
What's the point? The point is always the same: to make the devs money, and this includes Ripple and Ethereum.
Also, you will NEVER convince granddad that something called ZIFTERcoin is money. You will never convince someone who doesn't have a deep understanding of technology that it is safe to use something called DARKcoin. It sounds like it was created specifically for buying drugs on the internet. Computer geeks understand what the "dark" in darkcoin is supposed to mean, but we are an extreme minority in that regard. I think these coins will fail ultimately just due to their silly names, regardless of how good the underlying technology might be. Bitcoin at least sounds legit.
I agree, and that's why bitcoin will likely prevail and alts wont. They're just unnecessary.