Engineering

every week i learn a new fact that makes the IC supply chain seem more ridiculous

every week i learn a new fact that makes the IC supply chain seem more ridiculous
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/the-worlds-semiconductor-industry-hinges-on-a-quartz-factory-in-north-carolina

Seems crazy that anything works at all sometimes. Check out the computer systems that the major banks still run on. It's unbelievable.

The whole industry can take you down a wild 🐇 🕳️. ASML (EUV lasers) is another crazy bottleneck. My fav fun fact is that our current world economic order could be entirely different if Texas Instruments had not passed up on Morris Chang as CEO.

In Numbi (DR Congo), where most look for gold or coltan, I once came across a bunch of (mostly Asian) cowboys making a fortune off quartz tailings they’d get for free. Quartz is ubiquitous, but quality quartz is rare — and its value misunderstood.