virtualmaster : there is no logic behind saying "they are a cool toy to show people about bitcoin mining and teach kids" because you could just use your computer to do that
Sure. You could use a book and some apples to show how it works a car or you could buy a toy car for your kid. Which one would he prefer ?
You don't need to answer just look how many people follow this logic.
what you said does not apply. there is no logic behind purchasing this for education when a computer can demonstrate bitcoin mining without it... mining bitcoins with this shit plugged into your computer or not will not make your kid understand it any better or make it any more authentic or "real"
nobody followed your logic, they bought it as a cool shiny gift for mom and dad, or based on greed/false hopes/misleading advertising whatever
well following your logic, its like teaching modern day gold miners the only equipment they need is a pan and some water. in todays technology requirements for bitcoin, it is completely logical to assume to get any kind of reasonable income you require a piece of equipment that is not a standard computer part used for gaming (CPU/GPU).
so for teaching purposes using a USB erupter is actually great as the new sandbox testing and learning part of getting into mining before spending thousands on big rigs.
i would never go to any gold mining seminar to learn how to gold mine, if the only demonstration was pan washing. id want to see sloosh machines, excavators, dynamite being used.
that said i think that bitcoin mining has gone far passed the hbby price of every day users. and any education of people on small incomes should be based around the benefits of starting their own retail busines using bitcoins, without all the government red tape and without card processing fee's.
we (in comparison to gold mining) are no longer in the wild west days of pan washing for gold where any man and is son can do it. it requires significant investment to mine, thus leaving the rest of the world to find other methods of getting an income from the new currency. so lets make the educational push into retail start ups, working for bitcoins, buying every day products for bitcoins.
we need to move slowly away from the brain fart opinion that the only way to make money in bitcoins is to mine it.