A Bitcoin is 10,000 bits.
A bit is 10,000 Satoshis.
Simple. Elegant. No mouthful of metric jumbles and eyesores. No list of 8 geeky multi-syllabic names.
What else should the acting base unit of Bitcoin be called other than a bit?
I like the idea of having units for 1 BTC, 0.0001 BTC and 1 satoshi rather than using SI units, but "bit" seems too ambiguous. Too much like bit
coin. People will say stuff like, "Send me 1 bit coin," which is confusing.
depends on whether you set the context or not. eg.
seller says "how do you want to pay?"
buyer replies: "with Bitcoin".
seller: "ok, then that'll be 500 Bits"
there's no ambiguity because you've already established the transaction is Bitcoin.
If the price was 1 Bitcoin, then you would say, "pay me in Bitcoin, the price is 1 Bitcoin (meaning, 1 BTC or 10,000 Bits or BIT).
It's a similar thing with the Dollar and other fiat. You can say pay me in Dollar. Price is eg 35 Dollars. "Pay me in Dollar" does not mean "pay me one Dollar".
No ambiguity.
I don't think "Satoshi" should be used at all. It's too long for one thing - 3 syllables. Plus it sounds kind of like a geeky in-joke.