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!