I can't go into a store and buy a suit with gold, so it's not a useful medium of exchange for me. If gold, or bitcoins, fell out of the sky and into my lap, I certainly wouldn't mind. But given the same value of gold, bitcoins, or dollars, dollars tend to be the most convenient for me.

the only issue with them is that little by little they lose more and more of their purchasing power so you should either invest or use all immediately

I don't own gold either.

I can't wait to see the face of doomsayers once Planetary Resources (or other company) starts mining gold from asteroids. I'm sure Gold's intrinsic value will hold up, with the increased supply...