XRP is not an IOU. It's a deflationary, math-based currency, just like Bitcoin.
That's a laugh. XRP is NOTHING like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is completely transparent and provable with math. ALL Bitcoin transactions from day 1 are available for viewing and auditing by anyone. That's not true for Ripple.
I understand certain people on this forum want to pump Ripple, but please stop trying to hang on Bitcoin's coattails to do it.
Both can be stored without counter-party risk and both prevent double spending, by design. That is cryptocurrency....period. Distribution methods may differ, but that's irrelevant to me, especially with XRP's intended purpose, and that's not as a speculative commodity. A currency is not defined by it's value but rather by its usefulness. So from that perspective, you're right. XRP is not Bitcoin...and fortunately so. That allows XRP to remain useful in its purposes of spam prevention and bridge currency, and not just a means for a few people, to "get rich quick".
As has been said repeatedly, if you don't like any particular currency, don't use it. Ripple is currency agnostic. Use what you want, other people will use what they want. Freedom baby!