The Bitcoin Decimal Problem

[Anth0n]

So far we don't have much trouble pricing goods in Bitcoin. But what happens when down the road, Bitcoins gain more value and we have to use the smaller decimal places? The average shopper will not want to see prices such as 0.00005 BTC, or 5x10^-5. I am proposing a solution using colors of the rainbow, ROYGBIV (plus black and white): http://imgur.com/m0Tut

So a car could be priced in "black" coins (standard BTC) while snack foods could be priced in, say, "yellow" coins (5 yellow coins = .005 BTC, equivalent to .005 black coins). Then clients could be configured to allow users which color they want to view their balance in. That way average users never have to deal with ugly decimals.

An example: suppose I own 0.03 BTC and I want to buy a .005 BTC snack item. The seller can choose to show the snack as 5 yellow coins instead of .005 BTC. Then I can say "hey, this seller is displaying the cost in yellow coins" and change my client to display my balance in yellow coins (0.03 BTC = 30 yellow coins). It just makes the math easier for people who are not mathematically inclined.

[kakobrekla]

If you can't handle this much, well, then perhaps your mum should be taking care of your money.

[bg002h]

Color is one dimension you could build a scheme out of....I mean, as long as you're inventing an organizational scheme to physically represent a non-physical concept, why not vary the size and shape as well? Maybe have "Reeded" edges like real coins...

I still feel using SI prefixes is the best approach...it's just not as familiar to us Americans because we (like Liberia and Burma) don't use the metric system. I don't think the ROW will see this as big of a problem as our axis of non-metrication fellows might.

[Anth0n]

If you can't handle this much, well, then perhaps your mum should be taking care of your money.

I'm not worried about myself, I know math. I'm worried about grandmas who spent their whole lives doing money transactions to 2 decimal places.

[julz]

heh..  I tried to drum up some interest in a semi-standard linking of colour to units a year or so back:

from: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=27663.0




I think that if a particular UI designer just does something along these lines, and their users really like it - then maybe it'll catch on with other software developers.
Somehow I don't think it's something we can plan for - it'll just happen or not I guess.

[niko]

I'm not worried about myself, I know math. I'm worried about grandmas who spent their whole lives doing money transactions to 2 decimal places.

Are you worried about Japanese, Kuwaiti, and Italian grandmas who spent their whole lives doing money transactions with integers?

[adamstgBit]

heh..  I tried to drum up some interest in a semi-standard linking of colour to units a year or so back:

from: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=27663.0




I think that if a particular UI designer just does something along these lines, and their users really like it - then maybe it'll catch on with other software developers.
Somehow I don't think it's something we can plan for - it'll just happen or not I guess.

+1

[Currencevents]

There are different psychological associations made with colors and it may be that vendors would realize that fact and use it in order to manipulate their consumers with pretty color pricing. For example I associate green with savings and red with either a warning or time running out. Most people are manipulated with that little 9/10 on the price of gas as well as the presentation of $9.99 or $19.95. I could however see that some people may appreciate such a system.

[edd]

I guess the colorblind would be SOL.

[adamstgBit]

heh..  I tried to drum up some interest in a semi-standard linking of colour to units a year or so back:

from: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=27663.0




I think that if a particular UI designer just does something along these lines, and their users really like it - then maybe it'll catch on with other software developers.
Somehow I don't think it's something we can plan for - it'll just happen or not I guess.

+1

it should read "milli bit" "micro bit" "nano bit"

so we can say things like : "1 USD is worth about 85 milli bits but a lot of people think it should be worth micro bits."