I may be alone in this, but anybody upset about a 20 cent fee on a transaction doesn't interest me in the slightest, either buying from or selling to, with bitcoins.
So I guess that's it for microtransactions?
You're right, though. Imagine what a failure bittorrent would have been if they hadn't required 20 cent transaction fees for every download.
They're not required.
I haven't used them but once since I started mining, and it was to get coins out quicker.
If they're unable to change the text in the box on the standard bitcoin client (as I was) from "0.01" to "0.00" for the transaction fee, they're idiots. We have no shortage of idiots in here already.
If they can't do the above, what are they doing getting involved with an electronic cryptocurrency for micro-transactions?
I know you're passionate about this belief of yours that it's mandatory, but it's simply not true.
To re-pose your torrent question, imagine how the music industry would be doing if they had caught on to $0.99 per song instead of $20 for a shitty album with one good song on it 10 years ago...
Ahh, I see, it is a friendly misunderstanding.
In the latest version of the standard Bitcoin client (currently downloadable from the frontpage of bitcoin.org), there is no way to disable the transaction fees. (They apparently only pop up, though, for microtransactions. Maybe that is why you did not see them)
Now you know.
I hope you will join me in asking the developers to get rid of this mandatory fee. As a miner, you'll benefit by Bitcoin catching on for more merchants. It'll catch on for more merchants if there isn't a mandatory fee. That's most of the appeal of Bitcoin for merchants: escape from credit card/PayPal fees!