I just meant to give a direct answer to.
Is there any good reason to no limit the money supply with ethereum? Because that just (unnecessarily?) dilutes everyones shares.
If you assume a change as big as removing mining (they're even considering specialized hardware...) then there are a whole bunch of changes you could assume until ethereum is no longer ethereum. Basically, I have no confidence they'll switch away from mining "gracefully" given they are trying it at all.
Specialized hardware is nothing but a new platform for new ASICs to be built on. In fact, the production thereof will likely be the place where they can gain control of a "decentralized" consensus technology as they would be one of the primary choke-points for distribution. And if they actually get the 60,000BTC (Hoskinson, I believe has said that will be the cap in multiple interviews) it will be VERY difficult to overcome their advantage in the space of researching that specialized hardware (plus they would already have the developers on the pay roll). Btw...they will almost certainly get the 60,000BTC. Human Greed is a powerful thing.
Mining is
centralizing--and centralization on a technocratic elite is arguably worse than the elite with which we now fight (you know, the few who own nearly half the world's assets
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-02/its-1-world-who-owns-what-223-trillion-global-wealth). I cannot see a single way where it doesn't become so. TaPoS is the closest thing that I can consider as being viable as it offers the needed reward incentives for being part of the ecosystem while also securing the network from potential threats.
Ethereum is not centralizing based in the blockchain portion of their tech (necessarily)...it is centralizing due to the incentive structure it will create for the
insiders. The Silicon Valley model they are attempting to utilize is
centralizing. If you do not agree...look at Facebook as just one example.
He who controls the intellectual capital to work consistently on this project will become, over time, the new elite if we are not careful. Sorry if this talk is not popular, but it is a very real outcome that deserves careful inspection at every step. The
human element is the centralizing factor...and it is unpredictable.
*definitely interested in alternative viewpoints...