Well ASICMiner just gave mini rig buyers a punch in the gut.
Buy from BFL in August 2012. 1 mini-rig 1.5 TH/s @ 3000 BTC
Buy from ASICMiner in August 2013. 20 Eruptor Blades 1.5 TH/s @ 420 BTC
So buy from ASICMiner a year later, no pre-order stress, product will ship in days, spend 86% less, get the same hashing power and receive it sooner.
Things move fast in the mining world so specs only matter if the company can deliver as advertised when advertised. Those that trusted BFL @ 65nm paid the price, now they want to tell you 28nm will be different.
3000 BTC value in August 2012 in USD: $30,000
420 BTC value in August 2013 in USD: $54,600
So buy from ASICminer a year later, spend 46% more for 1/6th the hashing power @ 3x the power consumption! Sounds like a good deal to me! Not.
Now forgive me, perhaps my information is wrong, but aren't the Eruptor Blades 13 GH/s each? If, so, how do you get 1500 GH out of 20 * 13?
FUD much?
DeathAndTaxes' assessment is accurate. You have to look at the bitcoin price because it accounts for the opportunity cost correctly. Failure to do so leads to forgone profit.
Put another way: Not spending 2580 BTC (3000BTC-420BTC) for a minirig equivalent in August 2012 would have earned you ~ $330k.
Really, so you're claiming that 20 * 13 = 1500? Wow...
But lets go back to the USD assessment. The only way your figures work out is if you have 100% prediction ability or you use hindsight, neither of which are considered acceptable investing methodologies.
Once again, your entire premise is flawed. If you (or anyone) were so good at predicting the bitcoin price back then, why are you not a multi-billionaire? If you knew BTC was going to go up, especially as much as it did, why were you not mortgaging the house, selling your mother and pimping out your cats and dogs to buy BTC? You'd be an @#$%@% idiot not to... yet you didn't, why?
Hindsight investing is great, except it's a bunch of shit, which is why comparing the price in BTC of anything in August 2012 to something in 2013 is a bunch of shit.