Yes mining is a fool's errand. It was only great when you could do it on your computer. After that, it has just simply been a race against the difficulty and costs of mining. Almost every mining company would have come out further ahead if they simply bought coins rather than mined.
Source: I was a miner and would be a lot richer if I had just started purchasing coins earlier. :) Also any history book on cryptocurrency such as The Age of Cryptocurrency by Paul Vigna and Michael Casey from WSJ. The miners profiled in it are just trying to keep the lights on in 2015 and nothing has changed to the hamster wheel.
Source: I was a miner and would be a lot richer if I had just started purchasing coins earlier. :) Also any history book on cryptocurrency such as The Age of Cryptocurrency by Paul Vigna and Michael Casey from WSJ. The miners profiled in it are just trying to keep the lights on in 2015 and nothing has changed to the hamster wheel.