Quote from: Gandlaf on June 12, 2011, 02:07:11 AM

The whole software is open source(easy to copy and tweak), there´s a lot of heat on the current implementation, on the other hand it has a fairly large and dedicated userbase.
But Firefox/IE did not invent the browser, Google did not invent the concept of a search engine, both used existing ideas and improved on them. But that´s not what you are saying in the quote I critizised. Hence I stated that I believe it to be misleading.

Bitcoin isn't anything really new either though - it's a new application of existing concepts. And I guess I don't see competition as particularly threatening to Bitcoin. If Bitcoin takes even 10% of the global currency market current investors will make an outrageous killing. It can coexist with other currencies, if the concept is sound. A monopoly isn't the only way to win, and anything that is good for cryptocurrencies in general is good for Bitcoin.

A new, "better" currency isn't going to displace Bitcoin overnight. It too will have to bootstrap an economy before it's viable. That's the hard part, and Bitcoin is already progressing towards it. And in the event a competitor comes along, you can always trade your Bitcoins for it.

Don't forget that Bitcoin has no central point of failure. It can't "fail" in the same way a company can just because a competitor comes along. It can only fade out over time, giving you plenty of time to react.

Now again, all of this assumes that Bitcoin is technically sound. It can certainly fail in other ways.