Lets not forget that Ripple supports a transaction volume many times higher than Bitcoin. And transactions get into the ledger within a few seconds instead of 10 minutes to an hour (or more). Furthermore, the Ripple Consensus Ledger simply *does more*, there are built in order books, pathfinding, and payments allowing users to interact more conveniently with fiat IOUs.
Honestly in a comparison of Bitcoin vs Ripple, all I need to see it the bold/underline above. If Ripple would develop a Wallet/Exchange base worth something, then I can see it replacing Bitcoin in the actual use case scenario. Bitcoin has a huge head-start. It is the "First Love" of many people, including myself to a degree - but honestly, so many of us are just plain pissed/frustrated with Bitcoin. It seems to be a nowhere coin - going nowhere, doing nothing, and competitors springing up all around it. Ripple is perhaps THE best positioned coin to displace it (NOT saying it will) IF IT GETS AN EXCHANGE/WALLET BASE ESTABLISHED.
I realize that isn't looking like the plan at present, but I think that may not be bad, becasue I think they are trying to solidify the banks first. If they do manage that, then launch "public access" - then this could go somewhere fast. But I think we'll see this adoption/realization build up slowly for some more time, then pop. So... not yet.
I think they'll leave it to community to develop consumer-facing products like wallets and exchanges. They aren't interested in being a money-service business. They're a software company that's trying to revolutionize how value is transmitted. Ripple is interested in XRP but isn't all
XRP. They've stated over and over again that they want to build a very low-level protocol that unlocks value that's been siloed because of lack of ledger interoperability. They aren't trying to change business rules or replace the current financial infrastructure. The Ripple network allows for 3.5s settlement between entities on the Ripple Consensus Ledger, now Ripple's promoting their interledger protocol to allow disparate ledgers to interoperate. If people see value in XRP they will build the tools around it. I think we do see Ripple engaging strategic partnerships that will increase the demand for an interest in XRP though, it's just what they're all about. At the end of the day rest assured that their investors are interested in a BIG return, their investors damn sure are interested in XRP gaining value.