When people ask "is Steem dead?" they aren't asking if the price of Steem has hit 0.00, and as you pointed out, that's impossible. Steem will always be worth more than zero. What people are actually asking, though, is "is Steem becoming like MySpace?" and the answer is looking more and more like yes. Steem can become as dead as MySpace (but the price won't hit zero, if makes you feel better).