I don't think that BTC, (or LTC), mining is dead, it is just very hard and not very rewarding, (for the vast majority of miners).
Like real mining, you get a very small return for a lot of work/expenses.

Personally I am hedging my bets on both currencies, but I would really rather see one single currency taking off.
I have one machine mining LTC and another mining BTC.

Like a few miners my main objective is to mine as much as possible before I can actually use the currencies.
My plan is to mine for about a year before I use my coins for 'real' transactions.

By the looks of it, LTC might only be usable as an investment rather than for actual transactions, only time will tell I guess.

FFMG