Monero testnet can be used experiments. Why so many Monero users spend time on Aeon now?
Its a chance to own a bit of crypto history and be part of the AEON early adopters. We think AEON has a very bright future!
This is also my opinion. There is room for more than one successful CryptoNote coin.
Definitely! Despite it being proclaimed 'dead', Litecoin keeps chugging along. Despite it being razzed as a 'joke', Dogecoin's ecosystem is the biggest in in altcoin land in terms of participation. And these two examples are only off the top of my head.
As the Dogecoin example indicates, all you really need is a special kind of branding: a sort of 'club' that certain folks are happy to be members of.