I see Bitcoin like the first popular search engine "AltaVista"

Eventually, Google crushed it, so Bitcoin may not be the eventual winner here.  First to market does not always guarantee success.

With the current flaws in Bitcoin, I see them like AltaVista.  They will shoot up, crash and be replaced with something better.

Right now it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to confirm a bitcoin transaction.  I need this to get down to less than 10 seconds.

I run several eCommerce sites and I take Visa and Mastercard.  It takes less than 3-4 seconds to verify the transaction.  No way, could I ask the consumer to wait an hour to verify the transaction.

However, with Visa, MC I pay a flat rate of 1.65% per transactions plus fees.  Visa and Mastercard is very creative with fees, and with Premium Card Fees added on (yes we pay for your Air-miles Vacation), it often works out to over 3% for a credit card transaction.

Bitcoin would crush Visa and MC for ecommerce transactions, if thee three things happen:

1) The Bitcoin currency must stabilized within a volatility range that one would expect with a major currency.
2) A chargeback mechanism needs to be put in place, to provide a form of trust, or else consumers will continue to use their credit card.
3) and of course, we need a bitcoin debit card (I think one already exists).

Now if all this happens, the banks will suddenly lower the Visa/MC merchant fees to reflect a reasonable profit margin, instead of charging extortionate fees, and making huge profits. Banks are charging the same fees they did in the early 70's when credit card transactions had to be processed individually by hand, without computers.  Now it is handled by a interbank payment gateway, that costs the bank, a fraction of a cent per transaction.

The use of plastic money has only been around for the past 50 years.  Bitcoin or it successor will eventually be a new paradigm shift, one that the major banks are terrified of.