First: Bitcoin was always crushing the altcoins. 
But I think despite the raft of pump-and-dump schemes, altcoins are a fertile ground for real experimentation in terms of algorithms, transaction secrecy, and economics (inflation, deflation...).
My hope is that some altcoin will actually reconcile P2P (and propagation delays) with the need for near-instant transactions. The current propagation model can be minimized but not fixed. Take block time down to the exact minimum time to propagate throughout the global network (Bitcoin's 10 minutes is too conservative, but is Mincoin's 1 minute too liberal?), and you're still talking minutes of delay; besides which, quick confirms means you need more confirms to achieve the same assurance.
An architectural delay of more than ~2 seconds ensures that large-scale retail adoption will depend on payment processors, who are willing to quickly front unconfirmed transactions in exchange for a fee. Congratulations, Visa keeps its middle man role and gets us to do some of its processing.
If power then (inevitably) becomes centralized in the most competitive payment processors, government can decide to go after those few juicy targets. Bam! Bitcoin's appeal to physical businesses collapses, except for the geeks who can afford to sit around for an hour to finish a transaction.
But I think despite the raft of pump-and-dump schemes, altcoins are a fertile ground for real experimentation in terms of algorithms, transaction secrecy, and economics (inflation, deflation...).My hope is that some altcoin will actually reconcile P2P (and propagation delays) with the need for near-instant transactions. The current propagation model can be minimized but not fixed. Take block time down to the exact minimum time to propagate throughout the global network (Bitcoin's 10 minutes is too conservative, but is Mincoin's 1 minute too liberal?), and you're still talking minutes of delay; besides which, quick confirms means you need more confirms to achieve the same assurance.
An architectural delay of more than ~2 seconds ensures that large-scale retail adoption will depend on payment processors, who are willing to quickly front unconfirmed transactions in exchange for a fee. Congratulations, Visa keeps its middle man role and gets us to do some of its processing.
If power then (inevitably) becomes centralized in the most competitive payment processors, government can decide to go after those few juicy targets. Bam! Bitcoin's appeal to physical businesses collapses, except for the geeks who can afford to sit around for an hour to finish a transaction.