You think the average person has the know-how to develop their own ASIC? Tom was able to put together several Bitcoin ventures, and sell many FPGA units, but fell flat on his face when trying to build an ASIC. I (and I'm sure a lot of others) would much rather just buy a product from someone else and not have to worry about the headaches and risk that goes along with developing your own ASIC.
+1 It really
IS harder than it looks!
I agree. BTL should have been asking for monies for R&D and stated at what ever level of investment you MAY receive the appropriate first run rig according to your level of investment. We all know now why they did this! It's a lot harder to get people to invest in something that doesn't exist yet. In my opinion it's morally wrong and illegal in the US. They better deliver soon before the FTC starts getting complaints.
