Thanks for your responses to a Newbie.

Seems pretty clear that $ are currently more viable than BTC. Frankly I'm more interested in increasing my $ holdings than BTC - maybe this will change in the future, but at this time BTC are too illiquid and WAY too speculative. That being said, it is also a VERY interesting development and fun to dabble in! As with most things, I expect a few people will make lots of money (shrewd exchanges like MtGox) and lots of people will lose money. Of course it is only money...