Most of the ones who first found out about bitcoin have been amply rewarded, as have those who figured out the economics of bitcoin asics, either by developing them or staying clear from them.  Not to rub salt in the wound, but I figured this out before BFL even announced its asic, and its the reason I didnt even get in to FPGA mining.

GPU and CPU mining was profitable for such a long time,  because the hardware price had no relation with its bitcoin mining potential whatsoever. Thats why gpu's were dirt cheap for us and gave an ROI in a matter of months.
Asics otoh would be priced purely based on their perceived mining potential, and therefore would never be profitable to anyone else as the one setting their price.