Interesting topic. My personal opinion is that gold, other previous metals, real estate and even other commodities are very useful as a means for moving wealth and purchasing power from one side of an inflation/hyperinflation event to the other side. There is a reason that most central banks stockpile gold as a reserve asset.

James Turk's interview with Jim Sinclair at http://www.goldmoney.com/video/sinclair-turk-interview.html is a really good listen. Two very smart people in an intelligent conversation covering current events.

As for the current price making it too late to start buying gold, consider that JP Morgan Warns Gold to Go Parabolic and Rise to $2,500 By Year End. From $1700 to $2500 is almost a 50% gain -- not bad.

Whether you want to believe that gold is climbing in value or the dollar is tanking is really of no consequence. The issue is where do you want your savings -- in a passbook savings account making 1% interest while the dollar's value falls 30%, or in a few pieces of gold maintaining value regardless of dollar (or GBP or Euro) fluctuations?