As for the getting rich thing, if it wasn't present we wouldn't be having this conversation. No one would be mining or would have mined and no one would have played beyond 2010/11.
A lot of people underestimate the positive aspects of speculation. It attracts lots and lots of adopters. Some of them will lose their shirt in the market and go on to write Bitcoin off as a scam, but some -- or even most -- will stick around. It's an amazing technology.
I don't make a big distinction between speculators and "people who actually use Bitcoin as a currency." A lot of people take issue with the latter group. I don't see them as a problem as long as the network retains a healthy degree of spending and usage -- as opposed to 100% of people hoarding.