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From: Mike Caldwell <mcaldwell@swipeclock.com>
CC: Bitcoin Dev <bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 14:11:18 -0400
Thread-Topic: [Bitcoin-development] "bits": Unit of account
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Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] "bits": Unit of account
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It is a paradigm that is easy to explain and grasp for neurotypical people.=
=20
The average mind has no problem overloading words and distinguishing the in=
tended meaning from context. For most people, overloading a single syllable=
word with a new meaning is much less complicated than using a unique 3+ sy=
llable word like satoshi or micro-anything.
Doing software development warps our minds to demand fully qualified names =
for everything. We know our compilers would say "bit? Fatal error 0xaaabbbb=
wtf, can't continue, not sure if you mean a Boolean or a dog bite". But th=
is peculiarity should not be projected onto the people we are trying to get=
bitcoin to appeal to, not if we want them to feel like we think about thei=
r experience.=20
If I were to say "a Bitcoin can be divided into a million bits", less than =
0.1% of average joes would think I was talking about German beers or the th=
ing that goes in horses mouths. Really, most people are good at using conte=
xt to relate this to "a dollar can be divided into 100 cents" and accepting=
it. This requires much less of their mind resources than using SI prefixe=
s correctly or learning 3 syllable words that (to them) have no instantly a=
pparent relationship to Bitcoin.=20
Mike
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 20, 2014, at 11:44 AM, "Arne Brutschy" <abrutschy@xylon.de> wrote:
>> I propose that users are offered a preference to denominate the
>> Bitcoin currency in a unit called a bit. Where one bitcoin (BTC)
>> equals one million bits (bits) and one bit equals 100 satoshis.
>=20
> There have been many proposals for more or less arbitrary subunits. What
> would be the merit of your proposal? I don't really follow the reasoning
> that it's better if it's uncommon for everyone rather than just uncommon
> for people not used to metric units.
>=20
> Regarding the label of a "bit": I have to agree with the others that bit
> is heavily overused as a unit, but I am a computer scientist, so I don't
> have the "average joe's" perspective on this. I find it weird to use as
> it's already in use in English - "a bit of work" etc
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