Wow, that summary in the first half of your post pretty much summarizes how everyone feels when they start, I mean right on the money!
Although I agree with getting rid of the money sign in principle, I think it helps attract new users, so may be important for future growth. The problem is balancing future growth vs. retention of new members.
Hey @hb1. For a moment I thought you and @hr1 were the same person. LOL.
Like I said in the post, steemit is not actually able to keep up with the rate of new registrations. That's why it takes too long to get an account approved. Because it's being done manually. SO, I'm reasoning that removing the dollar sign won't really have a big effect on onboarding new users.