The only reason Bitcoin is more valuable then other altcoins is first mover advantage. It's the truth if you compare bitcoin to a lot of alt coins on the technical side Bitcoin is lacking heavily.
Bitcoin isn't lacking heavily on technology... Bitcoin IS the technology. First one in existence and the first one out of the gate. Most all of the alt coins are junk copies with added crap. Only a handful actually serve a purpose and will survive over the next couple years. Bitcoin could be changed but why? Its trusted and well known the way it is. We will have Bitcoin for normal everyday use and Darkcoin for anonymous transactions. Thats all we will need.