Yes it's a good article and it's accurate. What's frustrating for those of us that lived through the conversion of bitcoin from CPU to ASIC is that the rules and issues have never changed, and we see the same mistakes being made over and over by both new manufacturers and newcomers into the game trying to capitalise on a market they think they understand. Bitmain have got the mining world by the balls and that is not going to change by anyone trying to take them on by the same rules they play by. I've been warning people since the first ASICs got announced but alas no one listened, and then I just gave up trying to warn them... No one seemed to want to believe me and for whatever reason very few every considered consulting me despite my obvious position in the mining world.
Ya I never understood it. Since ASIC's day 1 people have LINED up to give interest free loans to their competitors months in advance for a completely unproven product. I have mentioned quite a number of times the simple math of buying a unit from Bitmain (or anyone really) and it gives them the ability to put multiple units of their own on line. I was even basically called a nut job conspiracy theorist for suggesting such a ridiculous idea. I asked a million times why the fuck is everyone so horny to become an investomer? Why take ALL the risk of an investor but never be able to reap the rewards of an investor instead your BEST CASE reward is being a fulfilled order? Why are you funding your competition with interest free capital?? But it really wasn't a popular opinion (probably still isn't LOL) and I took my far share of heat for it!
Your're so right it's not a new concept. Some folks over the years have commented on the "near zero sum game" design of the system. We all know that those with the lowest capital and operational expenses will always make the most money. Again as obvious is that a company manufacturing miners will have the lowest possible capital cost's to start a mine. Add to that some of the lowest operational cost's (manpower and electricity) are in the manufacture's backyard and you can see that in time they will be the only ones left mining (if nothing changes and coins retain fiat value).
And even after all the outright scams, the borderline scams, the failed business attempts, delay after delay, 10's of millions of dollars "lost" and every other excuse the wild west here had to offer it's still amazing to me how many people come here with a get rich quick attitude or a complete lack of basic understanding of how POW mining works. But such is the capitalist way I guess and a new batch a wide eyed awe struck newbs will roll in here every time coin price spikes and BTC is in the news.