That's not merely ROI, which is in fact ANY income generated, it's a profit ABOVE breakeven, even given the cost of electricity. That time frame of breakeven and positive ROI is an accountant's wet dream, not a pessimistic outlook. Three months to see a profit above breakeven on expensive equipment is stupendous. You aren't merely spreading FUD here, you are showing a complete lack of any sort of business sense.

That is in addition to the other less tangible profits, such as making bitcoin more secure, more available, and more tradeable. All of these are possible, even likely outcomes of the massive influx of ASIC based mining equipment. I personally would be happy to hit breakeven or a bit above in six months on ANY fuckin' investment, let alone something as speculative as this. And as has been pointed out repeatedly, those are rather pessimistic numbers.

On the subject of Return on Investment, I have to say that most of you are misusing the term rather badly. Even those who I agree with Return on investment is simply making an income from your investment, whether or not it reaches breakeven or profitability. Breakeven seems to be the term most of you are referring to as ROI, whereas anything above that is profit, or positive ROI. There are basically three scenarios in which these devices will make zero ROI.

1. You give up and never plug the bitch in.

2. It's a total scam. Just a box of fans, in which case it won't mine.

3. It's broken on delivery. In which case a reputable company will try to make you whole. Given the nature and declining profitability of such devices, I would hope they offer some additional boards for the loss of time in such a case. Not all companies are BFL, and unlike many here, I don't think even they started out with the intention of fraud.