Guys this is exactly the core problem of the BitCoin economy. Despite the fact that I look for a simple answer to a simple question it all gets very convoluted.
How can this ever be pushed into the mainstream media when its like this. I now been reading on BitCoin for 3 days, and reading FAQ's over and over again and still some things does not make sense. I know deep down inside its simple and makes a lot of sense, but it takes to LONG to get into it. There needs to be a BitCoin for dummies section or you may as well forget pushing this currency beyond nerds and anonymity freaks.
Agreed, and the "New to BitCoin" thread you referenced in your first post is an attempt to be that guide. But this is all run by volunteers, and some things (many things!) aren't completed.
The questions you asked aren't necessarily simple, either (well, the second is: if someone tries to buy up all available bitcoins the price will skyrocket, and either they'll be successful and many people will end up very rich, or - more likely - they'll fail). The deflation question doesn't have such a simple answer, and it's entirely possible that several different views exist. What I can tell you is that 21 million bitcoins are divisible to eight decimal places, so there are - effectively - 2,100,000,000,000,000 "things" which mitigates - somewhat - the problem of lost wallets. I
believe it may also be possible to change the number of decimal places.
Questions like yours help the process of building documentation move on. Hopefully someone will take this thread and update the "New to Bitcoin" thread, if they feel there's enough detail here to do so. If not, another post may draw out further detail. But these things do take time, as the people working on them are all volunteers.
