LOL - Cracking up here. I think it makes a good foot warmer under the desk.
It is a shame they can't be used for more productive things when they get old. Has anyone ever calculated the computing power used to mine Bitcoins to date? I imagine it is a very large amount of "wasted" power if you exclude the benefit to the person getting the coins.
If I open a bank and have a vault and I hire a security guard to guard the vault and the bank never gets robbed was the years of salary a waste? Hint: the purpose of mining isn't to get free coins (that is just the incentive. The purpose of mining is to _______.