Maybe I'm entirely missing what is actually bitcoin like about it. ... but not being Bitcoin like is a good thing, ... failing to be obviously and assuredly decentralized, however, makes me skeptical of its future.
We're committed to decentralizing it and we honestly believe that it can only work if it's decentralized. If you don't trust us (and I'm not saying you should) wait until it is decentralized.
What's Bitcoin-like about Ripple is that:
1) Transactions are public and pseudonymous. All system state is public and freely exchanged.
2) Transactions are cryptographically secured.
3) It doesn't require any central authorities once it's deployed. No one person or group will be able force the system to do any particular thing. Nobody will be able to shut it off.
4) The code will be open source. Broad participation in the development will be encouraged.
5) All participants will be able to verify transaction validity if they wish to.
The above assumes we get where we're trying to go. There's no guarantee we'll succeed, but we promise to try very hard.