The value of a bitcoin is currently $9.00, and I'll admit it feels like I'm buying tech stocks in 2000, or houses in 2007. But it's fun while it lasts!
It's fun for geeks because it makes money, and involves tweaking computer hardware and software, trying to get the most "MHash/s" which is a measure of how fast you earn bitcoins.
Besides the geek aspect, the economic aspect is interesting as well. They will mint a finite number of Bitcoins, at a set rate. If too many are created in a week, they up the "difficulty" and make it harder to earn money. But then the market value of bitcoins tends to go up a bit...
Anyhow, it's interesting. I thought I'd throw it out there. If anyone has a good gamers' video card (ATI specifically -- NVidia cards don't do so well) you might be able to earn some cash.
Matthew