http://dcebrief.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-your-kids-will-not-know-what-money-is/Of course he means paper money, as physical cash, coins and bills. If you know how to interpret things, you can already see where we are headed, and that's a world were there is no way to hide your money from a massive surveillance state. Bitcoin is our only hope at having an alternative economy that it's outside any goverment. The network is already robust enough to survive terrible attacks, nothing has worked against it thus far, not even trying to disrupt it from within, but we need to keep making it better, better obfuscation features as well.
I don't expect anything good from mega corporations like Apple and so on, so Bitcoin is our chance for an open source way out of that Orwellian nightmare.
According to me you are wrong about the role of bitcoin and even about its existence without being regulated (known) by the various Governments of the world. Cannot be sure if will survive and have good use and spread if will be used or conceived as a tool to hide money. If money is earned with honest work have no reason to be hidden. So, I cannot understand all this desire to identify bitcoin with the possibility to hide money. As for me are totally other its qualities. Anyhow, if we will remain at the hidden money I think that this use of it will make it dirty (like it is big part of it now and even more before) and will leave away from it the honest businesses and people. Not because will have fear that "touching" it will make dirty their hands. But because instinctively, the honest and normal people don't have pleasure to have to do with something which is used mainly for illegal things and have such reputation.
As for me the only brilliant future of bitcoin wanted by everyone who follow, spread, use, invest or simply like it is achievable only throgh its full regulation as a currency by most (possibly all) of the countries of the world. This must be the aim to be achieved by everyone who care about it.