I definitely agree that the payout should be displayed differently (the only other option i see is Steem + SBD). I see the reasoning that people new to crypto may have better grasp of "how much they ACTUALLY receive", but unfortunately, most of the times the number showed there is off because SBD is hardly ever exactly at 1 dollar mark.
Also the price of crypto is so volatile that it really doesn’t matter how much are the tokens worth at the time of the payout. Before one manages to sell them (which is probably the only reason why one would prefer the “dollar display”) the price may be completely different (since there is no option how to sell right away from Steemit and other windows into the Blockchain). The outcome would be accurate display of incoming tokens without the need to use steem.supply or steemstats. Overall this should be a very easy change to implement.
Great points @fingersik. It's a tough call to make...Because using "$" makes it so familiar and easier to digest for newcomers, but if that $ amount is inaccurate, it makes learning more very difficult. Luckily though, it's inaccurate in a positive sense (because as long as SBD = more than $1, all posts are currently "worth" more than they lead on).
I think that you refuted yourself (or your vision in general) in this very sentence.
If I’m not mistaken you believe that Steem should support MAINLY long-term vision. If that is the case the newcomers should be greeted with actual numbers. If they saw those they would have much easier time learning "what is actually going on". That means it would be easier to "get informed" and thus make decision whether to stay committed or not. As you yourself said, the $ is inaccurate, which just confuses every single user at some point and that makes the learning phase MUCH MORE difficult which more often than not results in complete lack of knowledge (and it’s hard to stay committed when the system itself makes it hard for you to be digestible - user-friendliness is the key). So actually it only “seems” that the information is easier to digest – the information displayed is actually totally irrelevant.
But maybe I’m just tired and it still is a "tough call". I though am now rather convinced (also thanks to your post btw:D)
Thanks for the comment @fingersik!
By "$" familiarity - I meant that the "$" sign is more of a billboard for Steemit to attract new people. And you're absolutely right, if it's not functional that dangling carrot becomes less enticing. (Even if it's skewed in a positive direction.)
Oh now I understand exaclty what you meant and I have to agree! None the less I think that whether its skewed positively or negatively is irrelevant - though if it was skewed negatively it would probably piss people off and the demand for a change would be even bigger!