As a hedge against financial collapse, or hyper-inflation, gold is surely more reliable. (Or bullets, or first aid supplies, or toilet paper, or whatever.)
People argue whether gold has intrinsic value -- to me it clearly does for certain industrial uses, which may or may not be around in the case of financial collapse, hyper-inflation or whatever. Ammunition (loaded or components), first aid supplies, toilet paper, and so on have intrinsic value. The intrinsic value of paper currency is extremely low, and bitcoin has none.
I own stocks so I must be an optimist
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Such a small proportion of gold's value comes from its industrial uses that I don't see it as significant. Arguably, intrinsic value is a bad thing in a currency. It means it gets consumed, or otherwise taken out of circulation for reasons not related to the economy. So intrinsic value is a bit of a red herring, really. Other than that, we seem to be in agreement: for preparedness, stockpile toilet paper first, gold a poor second and bitcoin an even poorer third.
Some people try to make a similar big deal about Bitcoin not being fiat: it's not legal tender; there are no laws forcing a vendor to accept it. For others, the freedom is part of the attraction. The currency will thrive or fail based on its merits, not on force of law. (This line of discussion risks getting political.)
What about that Mt. Gox disaster? Didn't people trust the owner with their Bitcoins, and then those subsequently went "poof"? And now Flexcoin is reportedly going down the drain. It seems you have to put a LOT of trust into Bitcoins, and apparently there have been some big losses due to this misplaced trust.
You're confusing bitcoins with an exchange that trades bitcoins. You don't need to store your bitcoins in an exchange, and indeed you shouldn't do that. Again, part of the attraction of bitcoin is that it gives you the freedom to be your own bank. (And with that freedom comes responsibilities.)
I don't see Bitcoin (or something similar) as the future. I see an Internet-based barter system as the future. It's de-centralized and still works without electricity, although just locally.
I think we developed from barter to currency for a reason. That reason hasn't gone away, and never will.
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