Honestly, if I was a lay person and someone showed to me Extreme Burn, I'd be amazed. Then if I ask him to do it again and he performs Prophet instead, I'd be equally amazed and honestly think that he just did the same thing.
That's how similar Prophet and Extreme Burn are to me. I guess that it doesn't make much of a difference to a lay person in regards to the visual change itself; we find the difference in how the method works and how convenient it is for magicians to do it. I think we are the only one who cares about this, and our preference lies in the method and subtle changes. Whether you hold it lenghtwise or not, the spectator wouldn't really notice or care as long as the bills change just as visually.
It's just like some of the Torn and Restored routines out there. People only see the fact that the card was torn and it was restored but there are many ways to do it. These are mostly true of course, assuming that the spectator is a lay person without prior knowledge to magic and is there to be entertained by the effect.
Really, both effects are very good. I watched both a few times already and I can see them having a great impact on the spectators. (Holding 4 $1 bills to pay for a $400 product at the cashier and he looks at you like
. You proceed to casually do Prophet or EB to change the bills to total $400, then he goes
@$!%!! And then you smile like
We'll just have to wait and see what Prophet has to offer so they can be compared together.