but don't they need permission to do that stuff in china i hear it's bitch to tour there all the bs they put you thu for a visa etc and then you just can't go any place you want to, so i wouldn't put past them being controlled by gov .Ive often wonder how much the gov is in control
On the other side of the coin.
I grew up in New York City.
I knew of people that owned entire City blocks of Queens and Brooklyn all via a handshake.
All government documents did not mention the handshake owners.
So the real power for asic can be in spots no one would really know,unless of course they are the actual holder of the real power.
If Putin sent someone to talk things over with bitfury and wanted an off the record deal with them it would happen.
If Bush/Cheney wanted a off the record deal in the USA with some company it would happen.
If the leader of China anted an off the record deal in China with some company it would happen.
Ghost ops flow in both directions . So the real power is hidden.
But on the surface our game looks like asic builders.
So I would prefer someone figuring out how to program a gpu to whale at silly good numbers mining BTC as I rather use gear from real companies.
I don't like alt coins but I see what eth coin does and I can see that a good gpu coin could always exist.
The eth coin market cap is about 700 million the btc market cap is about 6300 million.
Does not take much to see a fundamental issue for asic builders vs gpu builders.
Asic builders attitude to buyers is pretty much fuck you show me the money.
Gpu builders give service and warranties that are real. Just a little tip and btc could slide while eth coin jumps.
The security issue is pretty much equal.
We never had an alt coin go to numbers like .1 btc per coin the ½ ing could do this or not.
I Will be watching and waiting for gear from avalon. I also tell them sell us chips believe it or not it is a safer way to earn money for your company.
I think most are hodling and waiting at this point for nextgen. Although I am also sure some people are picking up the odd good deal S7 and a6. Personally I and others have mentioned the stale air accumulating around the control board in the A6, but that is easily addressed.
I had fantastic support from Spondoolies and wish they were building something competitive for a home miner. 110 TH is too many eggs in one basket and I do not see them giving us anything smaller with BTCS in need of as many which can be built and shipped. This is pure conjecture on my part except for the above average support, but it isn't hard to be above average when the competition was Bitmain.
Having said that I do see effort being made to use your regional support, I have purchased miners through the Bitmain regional guys in Colorado.
The last time I checked pricing it was extremely nice to purchase a new miner through Yoshi's group, get fast support communication, but... There was still a delay in actually having the miner shipped along with having a repaired unit shipped. Actual shipping time was fantastic, but even though the unit was very obviously here in the US there was still some hangup between my BTC being sent within a few hours, and the unit shipping.
...and Having said that, Yoshi stood behind good customer service, apologized for the delays, and I will not go in detail, but he took care of me.
However, I am interested in a bulk purchase and my overall experiences since the first miner I purchased from Bitmain, the S4s hurt like hell because of Bitmain customer service, the batch 1 S7s, even though they gave compensation the people who received theirs before the Holiday had a significant advantage. I had a very bad taste in my mouth after spending 9+ BTC for my first S5+, the fan die within a week and the factory telling me SOP is to buy your own fan locally. Other Bitmain employees told me I may as well do the same thing. Again Yoshi took care of me. I bought a spare at that time as well.
Yoshi has been the consistent reason I went back, and when I make my first real bulk purchase, it will not come down to who hits the market with the most efficient gear first, it will be the choices available to me based on past experiences.
I still haven't wrapped my head around why Bitmain has not set up a true factory leg in the US including assembly. What a jump it would give them to have a US team able to support and sell here. I understand they would lose some profit margin due to labor, but I firmly believe that it would be made back quickly with volume AND they could offer next day air service for people who want to pay it. Bulk orders could go out Fedex freight or an equivalent.
I guarantee they would sell many more spare parts. Look at how much shipping is added for each additional part from the website now. That has been the sole reason I have not already picked up several hundred dollars worth of spares.
They could also sell hash boards. Simply have larger runs made. Look at the people who would pick up multiple boards so they could build their own unique designs. People like me would purchase a hash board even if I had a warranty board going back in to be replaced to reduce downtime.
As was mentioned if BlockC approaches these things, lowers the MOQ to 1 for the small miner, and allows each individual part to be purchased I see a real fight starting.
The same potentials exist for other companies of they stop talking vaporware and actually make a move.
Of course I am sure there are many items I am not seeing, but I cannot understand why making your brand is not the long term goal.
