nope not so simple
dedicated asics = by far = zero sum or close to it.
gpus with a vast array of other uses are much further away from zero sum concept.
I am sorry that you don't see the difference between a 2 x 1080 ti rig that was purchased to game more then any other reason and 500 asic equihash miners at 10,000 sols a piece
one is a dedicated zero sum game the other is not although there are zero sum aspects to it.
That gamer will now buy a one card rig when the new video cards come out. Simple adjustment for that type of miner.
The truth is the 2017 boom was done on the backs of gpu expansion and asic leaching.
For me I am okay as I have a power deal that up to 20k-watts is pretty much unbeatable. If mining was to last 15 years I would do well and the 20k-watts of cheap power will only grow for me.
But with bitmain doing the sell gear and sell gear and sell gear and sell more gear I don't think the mining game lasts for 15 more years.
I had a lot of fun with it.
While I understand what you are saying Phil, I think you are missing the point.
GPUs are NOT meant to be mining! It is something that they conveniently were able to do better than GPUs. The inevitability of ASICs or rather, machines whose sole purpose is to "mine" coins is as sure as sunrise and sunset. It is just business sense. If you think that GPUs are good investment because of their resell value, then you are pretty much limiting yourself to at most a very small mining endeavor. In that case you are losing the benefits of scale. Can GPU mining be profittable? sure it can, but it will never be as profitable as ASIC mining......ever.
If you have cheap electricity, then great! I have cheap electricity as well, hell I think most of us serious miners have cheap electricity. But what we do with that electricity counts way more. And any calculation will tell you straight away that given the same Electric price and timespan: ASICs are going to out-perform GPU rigs by at least 2-3X per dollar invested. Thats just facts Phil. Even accounting for resell value of GPUs (which if you haven't noticed are tanking as we speak because as I said, ASICs for everything) If you are long crypto in general, it is far better to buy ASICs now, especially with newer chips and slowing development.