Ah, but one crucial fact you neg nellies are missing is that it depends how many computers you throw at it. If it would take a 1000 years on one PC, then it would take 1 year on a 1000. Especailly if using the earlier distributed idea where ranges are assigned. Yes, it may not be economically feasible to pay for that electricity versus just buying bitcoins, but it would make solving the problem quicker.