The possibility of extremely high fees in the future is certainly something for businesses to consider before going "all in" with bitcoin. Assuming we are at a really low level of transactions per day in this early stage of bitcoin adoption, any guesses on how high the fee could go?
I agree with you Chase, that even $4.50 locks people out. As for a guess at the BTC's transaction charge ceiling, I can't even take a swing at it. But here's my reasoning:
Bitcoin won't want to change their codebase while they are on the top of the tree. But as crypocurrencies gain widespread recognition, and people start installing crypto ATMs and accepting alt-coins for small product purchases, they will turn to the coins that cost less per transaction. If at this stage the price of bit-coin starts to drop, they will have to update their codebase.
If you are number one just because you were the first, and so have more of an aura of legitimacy, but fail to offer more in code or support, then as soon as you lose the number one spot, the reason for confidence evaporates. I'm sure the team supporting
Bitcoin know this and will act before the transaction fee harms their top position. So I believe it will be fear of desertion that will cap the BTCs transaction fee.