In particular, I think it is unfair to keep hundreds of thousands of whatever-coins for yourself, and it is unwise to think that a bitcoin variation that is "almost exactly like bitcoin, only different because... well, just because" will ever have anything more than speculative value.
I don't think anybody really takes Ixcoin seriously. As you said, most of us view it as a gimmicky distraction with no inherent monetary use other than speculative value on the Ixcoin exchange. Ixcoin vs. Bitcoin is like batting cages vs. baseball. Or the driving range vs. a full 18 hole round of golf. It's fun for miners who just like to go through the motions and see numbers fly by on the screen, but beyond that it's just an empty shell of what the Bitcoin movement is.