I just sat and ready EVERY page and EVERY comment on this thread. It appears a WHOLE lot of individuals did not.
BPMC stated their price, their requirements, and were up front with everything asked of them.
Will this product ROI at 2.1 BTC? Probably not, Will a BE ROI at .15 BTC? Probably not. ROI is a concern to most miners, but not the argument here in my mind, but execution and as of the post stating they are ready to ship they have executed.
They have taken an idea to market in a very short time. To do so has it's costs and they have READY TO SHIP PROOF that their COOP can execute. Many may not like the price, but at the end of the day they did something MANY other companies have not even been able to do is bring a product to market that is ready to ship when they say it is without preorders. The product from a USB perspective is a far superior product to anything currently readily available on the market so comparing it to a BE which is what is being done is only partially fair.
I own a handful of BEs. I paid around $150 each for my first 3, I paid $50 for my 4th, and my next 7 will be here tomorrow for around $130 combined. Will those ever ROI I doubt it and understand that fact. Everyone buying BEs today should realize that even with free power, shipping, and a cost of .1 BTC or under there is a slim chance if any to break even if you had the device in hand tomorrow. I am excited to see more products come to market and continue to support Bitcoin and the community as a whole. I can't afford to purchase these now, but I don't understand everyone hating on an organization so much? If you don't want to buy at this price don't it's really simple to understand. They already said they will mine with them if they don't sell, great that helps us all keeping a distributed secure network that will continue to grow.
If you want to throw some math into the observation VERY QUICK NUMBERS:
1 BF1 - 2.1 BTC shipped each (minimum order does not matter as this could be group purchased etc.) This uses 1 port in a USB hub at 2.5 GHash
8 BEs - around 1.27 BTC shipped at around .15 each, requirement of 8 ports at around .031 BTC cost per port (Dlink 7 port/6 useable at $26ish each) or an additional cost of .25 BTC total: 1.52 BTC
Is the electricity cost and port density on your hub worth the additional .5-.6 BTC? That's for you to decide, but it has it's benefits and in the grand scheme of taking everything into consideration of setup and configuration 1 USB is easier to operate, setup, and maintain than 8. Overall it is a better product at a higher price tag for the FIRST RUN of the product. We can only assume the price will come down as the component cost comes down, but as we all know the Bitcoin game is a rat race with ever increasing difficulty recently that is difficult for the average person mining to stay ahead of. I mine and participate because I fully support the idea and really enjoy Bitcoin and the people for the most part they are in general very helpful. I do take into consideration ROI in hopes that I don't completely throw all my money away, but at the end of the day I enjoy it and will continue to participate as much as I can. I know many are in the same boat, but there are different levels.
Those that are in it JUST to make money
Those that are in it to SUPPORT and secure the network
Those that are in it to SUPPORT it as a currency
Those that are in it to make a quick buck
Those that are just curious and want to see what it is about
Those that are combinations of all or some of the above
Recap, price announced, reasons given and defended with alternative to not selling. I may not like the price, but I'm not going to bash a group that appears to be doing good things for the community and is actually able to deliver products to us that is superior to anything comparable on the market today.
/end rant
you are funny, if you are a collector and take this as a hobby then do not speak for miners.... miners do this as a side job and they have to profit from their investment, and yes I am here to profit "shit I've just said it" otherwise I would just buy Bitcoins and wait for the value to rise........