Quote from: Herodes on March 05, 2012, 11:55:54 PM

Quote from: nmat on March 05, 2012, 11:51:53 PM

I was about to post this, but you wrote a much better text Wink

Mining with hardware that is tied to a central platform defeats the whole purpose of mining.

Thanks, but I see that while I wrote my lengthy post, and I had a break do deal with some issues in meat space, this thread exploded with posts, and I see the OP stated that there would not be a centralized control server, but rather a token that would allow mining for a certain number of blocks.

That's too a really bad idea if you ask me. If the company can deliver what it promises, then just sell it as it is, with no restrictions.

Quote from: Brian DeLoach on March 05, 2012, 11:44:54 PM

Quote from: ttul on March 05, 2012, 11:42:04 PM

As I mentioned earlier, the purpose of this mechanism is to support a leasing model.

Do you have more details about the leasing model? I don't see any mention of it in this thread.

I have no details of the leasing model, and there won't be a leasing model until after shipment of the initial production of 25 devices. We're not Cisco, folks, we're just a group of engineers, some startup capital, and a dream to build an ASIC mining appliance. Take it for what it is.

Regarding the fears of DRM, I'd like to clear up how the system will work, so that you know the box won't be mysteriously turning itself off and demanding a ransom. When you receive the machine and turn it on, it will register itself with LargeCoin by sending a token through the Internet. When we receive final payment for delivery of the appliance, we will send you a token (electronically if the device is connected), which provides an unlimited mining license. You are free to sell the device to someone else, and so long as that token is entered, the device will mine happily until the last Bitcoin block is solved.

By all means, if you trust a startup enough to send it $30,000 before receiving the product, we'll send you the license token before it ships.

No ongoing communication is required after you have configured the license token; and, if you prefer, you don't have to connect your device to the Internet at all. There will be a way to enter the license token without having it connected to the Internet.

Does this clear up everyone's concerns about DRM?

Quote from: Herodes on March 05, 2012, 11:55:54 PM

Quote from: nmat on March 05, 2012, 11:51:53 PM

I was about to post this, but you wrote a much better text Wink

Mining with hardware that is tied to a central platform defeats the whole purpose of mining.

Thanks, but I see that while I wrote my lengthy post, and I had a break do deal with some issues in meat space, this thread exploded with posts, and I see the OP stated that there would not be a centralized control server, but rather a token that would allow mining for a certain number of blocks.

That's too a really bad idea if you ask me. If the company can deliver what it promises, then just sell it as it is, with no restrictions.

We don't want to spin multiple versions of the chip. To enable a future leasing model, we need to have control within the hardware over the capability of the appliance to mine a certain number of blocks. That means literally burning a crypto key into each chip, and then enabling verification of license keys within the chip itself.

Quote from: coblee on March 06, 2012, 12:02:11 AM

$30k for 20 ghash/s. The breakeven is ~15 months assuming difficulty doesn't increase AND mining rewards doesn't halve at the end of the year. And plus you won't get this until July. Realistic breakeven is closer to 5 years. Add hosted/DRM mining and 90 days warranty to this. Thanks, but I'll pass.

This appliance isn't targeted at the hobby-level miner. If you have a few machines in your basement, keep on GPU mining. Chances are, you don't care about data center costs or power costs. But if you want to mine as a business, the ASIC model can't be beat in terms of profitability.