All good, I won't take it personally. This post was really just an update, but I can't let my standards slip just because I'm not creating a work of art that will stand the test of time.
Anyway, I agree with what you say about polarizing. I think that's something that's missing from this website. It was my original gripe with Steemit and why I coined the term "circle jerk" - people are scared to piss someone off because it will mean less upvotes and less money. So they all just echo each other and give each other pats on the back. "oh wow I really like the part where you said that completely forgettable universal statement." Lame.
To tell you the truth I can't really comment on the whole SMT thing. It's tokens for Steem, a la ERC20 tokens for Ethereum? Sounds like ICOs to me. Utility tokens galore, which have unfortunately fallen out of favor especially since the latest news by the SEC that says that all ICOs are now security tokens.
I don't understand the technical nuances so I could be wrong. Anyway, nice to see someone from Steemit Inc who isn't a troll. Props.
I would say that the key difference is that ERC20 tokens are claimed utility tokens, not actual. They don't have the features (fast and fee-less) nor the capabilities (decentralized distribution) to actually become useful for applications. SMTs will launch with these features and capabilities thereby immediately becoming useful so long as they are incorporated into a valuable application. In addition, Ethereum isn't built form the ground up to integrate with existing applications or new applications that use mature and rapid web development technologies. We already have multiple valuable applications running on Steem and SMTs will give them their own native currency whose price will reflect its value, regardless of whether they ICO. Finally, because all SMTs will have the option to leverage decentralized distribution, it's actually the only token launching protocol that isn't all about ICOs. In fact, I personally feel that the benefits for launching a token with only decentralized distribution (a/k/a proof of brain) are superior to ICO-ing. SMTs will offer ICO options because we integrate the feedback of entrepreneurs and developers, not because we are advocating for or against their use. Of course, time will tell on all of this, as with everything we do, it's really an experiment!
Great conversation and thanks for the response.