Bingo. Gold is pretty straightforward -- shiny metal. You don't need any understanding of cryptography, networking, distributed services, or modulus calculus to "get" gold.

You also don't need electricity (or most other modern luxury) to modify, trade, or use gold -- plenty of gold changing hands throughout the ages.

Cryptographic currencies have their use, but if the economy is looking shaky I'd rather have cash, gold, silver, cans of beans, or ammunition; BTC wouldn't even rank top 25.