Agreed. ASICs have really destroyed the spirit of mining, and may hint that the Bitcoin style PoW algorithms are in fact not a senible type of proof. Memory-ha

Agreed. ASICs have really destroyed the spirit of mining, and may hint that the Bitcoin style PoW algorithms are in fact not a senible type of proof. Memory-hard PoW algorithms, rather than computational ones, might be one way to reduce the amount of energy. Memory is expensive regardless of whether you make ASICs or use regular PCs.