Yes, but "simply" is an understatement. Real-time tx cross the network uniformly, with enormous capacity already available, perhaps 1000 TPS. It is block propagation which is time critical where milliseconds count. When a block is solved the rest of the mining network is then hashing uselessly until the block is fully propagated. Incentives are perverse, against large blocks which are ultimately needed to fund the network via fees rather than rewards. Removing the bottleneck for block propagation is a huge win for scaling Bitcoin.
Doesn't matter if the transaction fees are high or low. Doesn't matter if the inflation-based reward 50 BTC or 0 BTC. Doesn't matter if a block is empty or filled with 100,000*60*10 transactions. The amount a sha256 miner nets approaches zero. And if Bitcoin valuations fluxuate that net will drop below zero. This due to the simple fact that there is no limit on supply of gear. Only a lag.
None of the Libertarian brain-trust (justusravnier, cypherdoc, etc) want to touch this one. Surprise, surprise.
The answer I was waiting for is that actually mining will be profitable for some (marginally) and not for others depending on various factors (operational costs, economies of scale, ability to leverage otherwise idle resources, etc.) What will almost certainly happen will be that alternate revenue streams will be tapped. In http-land one such tap is known by the metric called 'eyeballs' and it's why you see ads all over the place. Another tap is for intel. Some of it you see when you notice targeted ads...some of it you don't (normally) see at all... 'Where who spends what' is an especially rich vein of actionable intelligence, BTW, and one the operators can easily get once they've got control of the system generally.
The salient point is that the only outfits who will be competitive in providing this support (and currently Bitcoin is wholly dependent on sha256 mining) are the companies who are already giants. Perhaps also minor giants who sell intel to the major giants (both of whom are under the thumb of Big Brother.) Well OK fine you might say. But I've already got a Visa card and a PayPal account so yet another such thing doesn't hold much interest for me.
What does pique my interest is a solution which can be feasibly operated covertly in people's garages scattered about the world in a SHTF scenario. That's still the case for Bitcoin at the present scale an it's something I don't want to lose.