As an Aussie, I have to say, all these retailers offering BTC payment are completely missing the point. Why would an American pay with BTC? A credit card is surely much much easier. It's us foreigners that need it, we get screwed by the currency conversion. At the moment the only person paying with BTC is someone that already had them, probably purchased much much cheaper, and is in effect cashing out. Nobody in their right mind would buy BTC just to purchase something online, the hassle and time involved is still ridiculous. But for something like a laptop, where currency conversion is usually around 3 -5 % of price, it could make a $100 dollar difference to everyone overseas, which would definitely drive adoption.
Dell, Overstock et al, get your shit together!! Take my BTC!!! Save me money!! Give me the satisfaction of denying Paypal their exorbitant currency conversion fees!!
Waitaminute, Dell and Overstock
are taking btc. You must mean that you want others to do as they do. Also, I think your point is about being an Aussie in USA. Basically the generalized case is anyone who is away from their home country and has to pay currency translation fees in order to purchase. The same thing would apply to an American in Paris, or whatever.
Anyway, I basically agree with you that at the moment purchasing with BTC is probably like a cashout.