So basically everybody here says Bitcoin as of today is SO perfect and doesn't need ANY improvement.
Not even if, being so perfect, it gets much more successful than it is now!
Very interesting...
I am know remembering that phrase from Mr Wolf at Pulp Fuction:
"let's not start sucking each other's d... quite yet."
Lol. No, not perfect, at least not for everything. And there are still plenty of unknowns. We're in uncharted waters here... But, it is so far more or less the most perfect Bitcoin that has ever been. :p And, comparatively, it is also perfect enough that things have been only built to complement it, not replace or make obsolete. (LTC is "fairly stable", and Ripple as mentioned is one idea out there. They solve problems people WISH Bitcoin solved, but are fundamentally incompatible with Bitcoin -- in this case, primarily speed.)
SHA256 could get exploited tomorrow, for all we know. But even then I have a fair amount of faith that the dev team can patch in a replacement quick enough that it will only tank the exchanges for a day or so. It's definitely something they've discussed a bit.