Bitcoin still has potential because it is the first mover, but it is quickly losing ground to competitors. I feel a lot of people here are in deep denial about what is really happening, but I am still hopeful.
I see threads like this every day now. Partially it's FUD (with a hidden agenda?), why else would FAFKINGS create a new account just to post this? No way someone new to Bitcoin starts with this thought!
In the Speculation-section newbies spread FUD on a daily basis. This one got lost in "Discussion" where people aren't used to the FUD yet.
I'm still hopeful too, but Bitcoin can only grow if the number of transactions grows. This has been taking too long already, and there's still no hard increase scheduled.