I was having this debate with someone who was saying its the difference between gold and silver. One is not necessarily better then the other.  I however, take the stance that Alt coins are really just riding off the success of bitcoin and in the end of the day, really serve no useful purpose.   Can anyone name one feature that an alt coin can do that bitcoin cant?  I don't really see minor differences in how many total coins exist, or the different mining strategies that are employed as features.  Features are, send money electronically, etc ,etc.