I'll have to respectfully disagree with you as well :)
Think about it for a sec. Does it matter how Bitcoin is mined? Does it matter how Ethereum is mined? Does it matter how NEO is mined? Does it matter how Steem is mined?
I'd argue yes, but only marginally. The value of those tokens comes from the scarcity, perceived security of the chosen mining protocol and perceived potential.
It's the potential of all these coins that give them most of their value. How Steem is mined at this point is pretty irrelevant in my eyes and reward distribution or "proof of brain" is still just mining. And as I mentioned above when we're actually talking about what the coin is capable of as a currency, it's smoking all of the above blockchains.
All the problems you mention in your last paragraph are easily addressed by SMTs and that's why all the focus of the Steemit team has been on bringing them to life and not addressing perceived issues. It's quite clear that actions speak louder than words and they don't believe those issues are a threat to the blockchain. The Steem price and rate of growth of the platform also support that stance.
That's likely because they understand that the value of the platform rests in being able to have a thousand different attempts to address those issues in the form of SMTs rather than trying to have one attempt to solve them for every app, which is a fools task.
No problem. I too look forward to the roll out of SMTs and do hope that they address some of the apparent deficiencies we have seen in Steemit. Like you, I feel the market is anticipating the launch of SMTs and perhaps that explains why the value of Steem and SBDs has risen. However, I feel their values would be further enhanced by foundational improvements to Steemit itself, and the rewards structure of the underlying blockchain as represented by it as its first proof of concept.
The transparency of the blockchain itself is what allows for these discussions to thrive - we all can see the positives and negatives, the good actors and the bad, etc. I recognize that this is all still a work in progress but for broader adoption to hasten, the little guy has to feel that his content has a shot at being seen. The Steem White Paper itself cautioned this: "Any imbalance in the give and take within a community is unsustainable. Eventually the givers grow tired of supporting the takers and disengage from the community."
Well said, I definitely agree that foundational improvements to Steemit itself would do wonders, it's just clear to me that the Steemit team doesn't consider that a priority compared to the potential of SMTs. My guess is that they'll circle back once SMTs are in the wild.
I'm not sure how much SMTs are driving the price recently though. I just don't see much knowledge about them in the space at all. Even here on Steemit I'm continuously reminded of how little people know about/understand them.
I have a feeling that once they are released and people see the concept in play they'll be able to then grasp the significance and impact, but until then I don't think it's gonna happen.
It's still to be seen if Steemit can even deliver on the SMT vision. Exciting times regardless and a fun experiment to be a part of as we get to watch it all unfold.
For me personally, no matter what happens, I've already gotten way more value out of this place then I ever thought I would, which is pretty cool and says something.