Bitcoins are so large..

[roy]

why not just deal in 'satoshi's? That will get rid of the need for mBTC/µBTC..

... and give you kSAT, MSAT, GSAT and maybe some day even mSAT.

But other large denomination currencies don't need to do this because large numbers are made easy to read through commas and more well known common naming systems.

One millibitcoin ("one Millie") is 0.001 BTC or 1 mBTC.
One microbitcoin ("one Mike") is 0.000001 BTC or 1 µBTC.
One satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC or one base unit (or 10 nBTC).

why not just deal in 'satoshi's? That will get rid of the need for mBTC/µBTC..

Psychology.  If you have to spend 10,000 to get a pizza, it seems worthless.

But other large denomination currencies seem to do this fine..? Would you be able to say what 0.0000001btc is in english?

[epii]

Concerning "large denomination currencies", there are really very few currencies for which a day-to-day purchase would exceed one million of the base unit.  Assume the upper limit of a day-to-day purchase is 100 USD.  For that to be more than 1 million units, there would have to be 10,000 units to 1 USD.  Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_valued_currency_unit

This is the case for precisely four currencies: Somalian shilling, Vietnamese đồng, Santomean dobra, and Iranian rial

I agree that large denominations are a reasonable option, but beyond a point it gets unwieldy and psychologically uncomfortable.  Buying a loaf of bread for 10,000 units seems pretty natural to me - buying a loaf of bread for 10,000,000 units doesn't.

[ryepdx]

Which is why I'm a fan of just using the metric system. It's flexible and easy to understand. :-)

[roy]

Which is why I'm a fan of just using the metric system. It's flexible and easy to understand. :-)

So do you use kilo/hecto/mega to describe bitcoin amounts?
It's currently a mishmash, no?

[ryepdx]

So do you use kilo/hecto/mega to describe bitcoin amounts?
It's currently a mishmash, no?

No. Read the previous posts. It's centi, milli, and micro. (And nano, if we ever start trading in values less than a factor of 10^-8, or "1 satoshi.")

As an aside, I don't have any issues with saying "1 satoshi" instead of "10 nanocoins" for 10^-8 bitcoins as there is no prefix in the metric system to correspond with that factor. But as I see it, why try to come up with a new system or alter the already established system in our nascent community to solve the unwieldiness of writing things like 0.00000001 BTC when there's already a perfectly good solution that has not only proven itself in other areas where exact measurement is necessary, but which is also already in widespread usage? Bitcoin already faces enough challenges to its adoption without us infighting and fabricating new ones.

[m4rkiz]

as general public in us, uk, and few other countries (that are crucial to btc success) don't exactly care about SI that much why not to use something like that:

1 btc = 1 Abtc
1 Abtc = 100 Bbtc
1 Bbtc = 100 Cbtc

that way 1btc = 10,000 Cbtc etc.

first it is easier to remember for average joe than difference between mini and micro, second you can go all the way down to Z or AA, AB etc. without strange nano, pico, femto, atto names

keep in mind that if it will ever become as widely used as usd we will operate at nano level

plus, it is about the time to start doing something in that field, as no one (new and unfamiliar with it) will buy 1 btc for $20, 40 or 50, but 100 miliBtc OR 100Bbtc for the same price seems to be a much much better deal - even if it is exactly the same

[elewton]

as general public in us, uk, and few other countries (that are crucial to btc success) don't exactly care about SI that much why not to use something like that:

1 btc = 1 Abtc
1 Abtc = 100 Bbtc
1 Bbtc = 100 Cbtc

that way 1btc = 10,000 Cbtc etc...

Do not want!

The current generation is very familiar with SI, which is highly parsable.  Learning some ancient-Roman-looking new system is a huge disincentive to joining.

[dayfall]

I propose that :
1.234567 BTC
be said as :
(1,234.567 SC) One Thousand Two Hundred Thirty Four point Five Sixty Seven space credits   (ok, perhaps not the space credits part)

For the short term, it is far to easy to put a k in front of the name.  Everyone knows kOhms, kW, kb/s, etc.  I mean, when do you expect to see kBTC?  I could see us one day saying "mili-BitCoins" as the standard unit of trade, but to me that sounds like a mouth full.  So, in short, I agree with the OP.