Bitcoin will never be accepted as a "real" currency if it continues to fluctuate like it has in the past. Nobody wants to buy $600 worth of currency only to have it drop the next day to $480.
In my opinion, there are a select few people making HUGE money manipulating the market. There should be no reason Bitcoin rises and falls $100's (Sometimes over 100%) in such a short time.
The high volatility is something that in fact keeps many people and companies away from bitcoin, but this volatility was much higher in the past and I believe that in the future there will be more price stability.