Do you think if BTC had a stable price which could only be altered by $0.01-0.10 it would still be as popular and as used?
In the short term, no, I don't think it would be nearly as popular. Most of the outside attention that bitcoin gets has to do with its crazy price swings. "Bitcoin up 5 bazillion percent" headlines get people's attention. Without that, I don't think there would be much interest outside of those people who are already interested in cryptocurrencies.
I agree with you. I have a couple of friends that invest In stocks and even they have a hard time to get into bitcoin.
I ask them why and mostly they says that it's only interesting when you are the first wave. They keep an eye at it for sure but not serious enough to adapt to it.