I wasn't unaware of these FPGAs. I was exploring using an FPGA when I got in on the mining hype before the bubble burst. Since of course, a FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY can be used for whatever the fuck you're able to program on it.
ASICs for Bitcoin however, do not and will not exist in the market.
I knew about those FPGAs. They still do not make sense to me from a reasonable ROI.
I know about Art Forz and his ASIC work. I cannot quote exactly what he did in detail but he is the closest
to actually doing it that exists today to my knowledge. He admits they are not exactly a great ROI either
since they are a limited hobbyist type of thing.
GPUs are here to stay for quite a while and represent the only real chance to make money when mining
in less then 4-6 months with a BTC price around 8 dollars and average elect costs. So to me there is no
debate. If the price of BTC goes below that most people are just going to quit and not bother with FPGA/ASIC.
If difficulty decreases enough for them to get back in they will. Most miners I know will not tolerate a
multi year pay off on hardware, period.
So if those people who own FPGA want to carry the load and make 10-20 cents a day.. most miners will
let them and move on. None of us really expected the gravy train to last forever.