I never gave mining bit coins much thought, apparently using a gpu even a high end one (i have a evga GTX 780 sc atx) still wont net you a profit, but I was just reading through the forum and thought about this... I still live in a college dorm and I do not pay for electricity. Since the cost of electricity seems to be the main obstacle, how much of an advantage would that give me? And is it easy enough to convert those bitcoins into US dollars so I can maybe order a pizza every so often?
If the price of Bitcoin rose to $1000, it could be seen as worth it. The fact that it doesn't have a fixed price means that the value of bitcoin mining diminishes quite quickly. It is very much beyond the capabilities of ordinary computer hardware now. Many people are investing in dedicated mining equipment. However, it is expensive, might take months before it is delivered, and it will still produce a very slow return on investment.
So on the whole, it isn't worth it. The government could shut down these de-centralised currencies. Though, the government seems to have changed its view on Bitcoins.