just a case of being provocative for provocation's fault

this is how you make a start-up. power to you guys! hope it comes to fruition!

I guess what I am inquiring about is whether it is good for the BTC economy in general to have exclusively asic mining guilds? ASIC only guilds would monopolize mining, which might be nice for asic owners in the short run, but might damage the overall worth and appeal of btc. certainly would taint the idea of decentralized, democratic, currency controlled by no ruling body. IDK.
Of course, when ASICS are out there, most likely only asic miners will be able to survive in the mining market, so maybe my question is moot. and yes, I have time to think... I would like to see discussion on these ideas so I can actually make an informed decision when (and if) the day comes, so I don't simply act on my own greed and wipe the rest of you GPU guys right out of the economy. That would for sure hurt us all.
Any thoughts here guys? (besides snarky come-backs about BFL's supposed crookedness and more apparent unreliability)

Sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent.

can't never have too much tull bro

i'm waiting for the $2000 mark.

I know that there aren't enough ASICs out there to warrant it yet, but has anyone discussed the possibility of creating mining pools for ASIC miners only? Would it be a good idea or is it not necessary?
I've got a BFL on order and I am trying to figure out my best options for maximizing its value.

company no one has heard of suddenly turns up with a product looking too similar to butterfly labs. Is shipping 500 units when the known companies cant meet their much smaller numbers....hmmmmmmmm. sounds legit to me (sarcasm)

wasting good BTC on g#$damn satoshidice.

I like the way your brain works... but you forgot an easy one...

12) lobby governments to regulate the hell out of BTC and strip it of most of its potential usefulness.

both of which lasted for years and made many people very rich.

Russian Mafia (basically every russian with any sort of money) uses cypress as an offshore for their funds. There has been a rise in russia. The bubble is mostly supported by US tho. I think many nations are looking at cyprus and seeing shades of things to come, so indirectly, in many ways, cyprus has some measure in this current boom.

That you bro?

OK, that allays some of my fears. Still... The perception problem... as you can see I'm swimming in it... and I'm one of the converted!
I'm just saying, that as much as we all look at and try to deal with the squeeky parts of this machine, Big Brother most likely has many times the manpower working at exploiting problems. Of course, the opt-in thing you mention, also their role as potential payment processors are on their table too, and these things bode well for BTC.
Its just my way of unraveling things backwards, but thats what these forums are good for.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/man-offers-to-sell-house-for-bitcoins/
it's in alberta :-(

Honestly, I am most afraid of perception problems.
People cling to fiat and banks because they have Stockholm syndrome. Anarcho capitalists are most likely already on board or at least seriously considering it. The regular sheep view the whole BTC with doubt and fear. The word is getting out there slowly, but, and this leads to my second point... Big Business, and Big Government... they will not relinquish control. Ever. No Way! They are watching, and my guess is, plotting as well.
What do you do in an experiment? You OBSERVE. Take note of what works, and why. Take note of what isn't working, and why. Try experiment again with alterations in the variables to see if you can not control these outcomes.
I'm am pretty sure that there are huge teams of developers at work, covertly, to create and introduce a competitor that exploit all the weaknesses of BTC, and simply reproduce the parts that regular noobz seem to be attracted to.
My paranoid fantasy? IDK!
They might be able to start a cryptocurrency that has less volatility. I certainly approach with a little trepidation towards the idea of spending a dollar if by evening that dollar has doubled in value. I shop for bargains, dude, not gouges!
Users could very well choose a centralized and standardized "lookalike" if it is marketed properly. Say PayPal makes a PPpenny- they mint 51% all right away and then open up mining to the miners with the same difficulty/rewards type situation as a newly birthed crypto$. They allow early adopters to see good rewards but retain majority ownership of this economy. Then PP is basically who is backing this and it is a "backed" currency. They continue to refuse to accept BTC as well as lobby govt to make unbacked currency restricted beyond usefulness. Meanwhile, their considerable PR dept is touting the safety and "trust" offered by their PPpennies all the while magnifying the drawbacks of BTC. They will play on public misconceptions to do this if necessary. We are competing with them and they hate us and will be both secretive and ruthless. 
Really, I wish people were more committed to anarcho capitalism, but the disappointed idealist within me isnt into holding his breath on this one.

It will be lovely for all of us if WU starts accepting BTC, but you will notice, the article states that they are "looking at alt-currencies like BTC" which could very well mean "they are watching BTC and taking notes and trying to figure out how to take all that BTC is and make their own version which gives them a cut right off the top of every transaction and is also easier to use and has been branded (by them) as being safer and more secure. even though I understand about the security of the BTC network, many potential users dont. yesterday my brother, who studies these forums almost as much as I do, said to me..."oh yeah, and the blockchain can be hacked and everyone loses their BTC..." to which I had to spend about an hour explaining how incorrect he was. The point is, people aint got the clear view of the full picture with BTC and some fat-cat corp. like WU or paypall or ebay will leap on these vagaries and create a version that people like better. sadly.

so I'm not sure if these type of stories are actually good news or more likely storm-clouds on the horizon. I wish I knew more about R&D for software etc. cuz I would be all over these problems, but unfortunately I am just an Unfrozen caveman, and your cryptocurrencies confuse and amaze me...

who cares what some butthurt thinks. F#ck yeah I'm lucky. And they aren't!
Sorry bro, but luck counts too!

I just pre-ordered a BFL 60 and expect to get it MAYBE sometime early autumn. I also expect difficulty to be waaaaaay up there. Thing I'm betting on is 3-fold... 1) there will be people who give up on mining, which = less competition for solving the blocks, which counters the difficulty factor a little. 2) I'm hoping this BTC bubble (sorry guys, but thats most likely what it is) is a nice long bubble, so I can mine BTC slowly, but also very very profitably as the price continues to soar. Remember...the dot-com bubble went on for years, same with the housing bubble. hopefully we will see BTC reach four digits before it all crashes down, in which case I will have to mine about ONE BTC to make my money back. and 3) I'm in it for the long haul, I feel over time I will re-coup my investment, but mostly I am intrigued to be part of the whole system.
I could be dead wrong and lose my 1200$ but Ive already made a LOT more than that just on the accumulated value of my present BTC holdings so I'm happy to take the risk.
Somebody's got to work those mines, baby... the miners holding a working ASIC will be the only ones to actually be mining at all once these things infiltrate the user-base.

I like web 3.0 as well. It  IS stupid, but that is exactly what the public likes. The dumbest lame shit ever. Look at whats playing at the local cineplex, whats on TV, Skrillex ffs. People like stupid shit. Its also easy to remember. I saw that article you linked earlier. good stuff!

say this "Bitcoin is a pretteh cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything"

nah, seriously, I send them here.