hah yah i can very easily imagine them in a museum one day in the "History's Greatest Pranks" exhibit
I think another factor to consider is that for the companies to use the ASICs themselves -- even if they felt they could eke out a slightly bigger profit (though I bet they know they can't), it would require faith in Bitcoin. By selling them its cash upfront, which is how real-ass businesses (hardware manufacturers being a major type) operate. The business model is reliable and 1000x simpler.
Yeah. The network currently is crunching at the equivalent of 6 exaFLOPS. Pretty ridiculous. I can easily imagine a story like that on the pages of a science fiction book! As in 'A Deepness in the Sky' or alike...
I think another factor to consider is that for the companies to use the ASICs themselves -- even if they felt they could eke out a slightly bigger profit (though I bet they know they can't), it would require faith in Bitcoin. By selling them its cash upfront, which is how real-ass businesses (hardware manufacturers being a major type) operate. The business model is reliable and 1000x simpler.