audio-talk

Ray P wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:47 am The two firms each own a stake in ASML alongside Intel

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Yep, good point. Does make me worry more about nvidea and arm though.

Several years ago (10? 20?) I saw a TV programme about Wedgwood china. Specifically, moving all their manufacturing to China. Not only made in China, but made by robots, in China! The programme item centred on one of the Wedgwood guys going over there to sort out a problem with the robots, i.e. make them work properly. The specific example was the one that 'glues' (actlually it's 'slip', to use the potter's vernacular) the handles onto the cups. It kept cocking it up. But when asked, the Wedgwood CEO said all their competitors are having theirs made in China, if Wedgwood don't they'll go bankrupt. Nobody will buy it. This is the bottom line. All driven by economics I'm afraid.

China made in china? Whatever next

Nick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 2:20 pm China made in china? Whatever next

On my penknife blade is stamped "stainless China".

Trivia mode on....

Waterford/Wedgewood group moved Johnson Stoneware production to China around 2003

Wedgewood porcelain production was moved to Jakarta, Indonesia around 2005/6

Its now owned by the Fiskars Group a Finnish luxury goods group after several years ownership by an American Venture capital group after Waterford/Wedgewood went into liquidation.

Waterford bought Wedgewood group in 1987

Trivia mode off...

There seems to be a growing international movement against the dependence on trade with China.

The Australian government, India, and USA all have the hump with China, and I've just read that Japan are offering substantial financial incentives for company's to move out of China.

There also seems to be growing support against human rights issues like the Uyghur Muslims, as well as the Hong Kong situation.

Where will it end ?

It also seems the USA is holding a military exercise in the South China sea area, which is hacking off China a tad.

Interesting to read how this thread seems to revolve around the thin end of technology. I have been watching a long-running series on the box called "Salvage Hunters". This bod drives all over the country buying absolutely any kind of weird and wonderful stuff that he sells on at a huge profit. He often visits old factories and buys old workbenches and stools, lights, in fact anything that is no longer made. My point is that these old factories have closed down because everything is now brought in from China. Some of the factories are the last ones doing what they have done for over a hundred years and seem to be hanging by a thread. Once these are gone the skills that drove them will be gone as well. So it appears that we are moving toward everyone either needs to be engaged in cutting edge design or some niche market that caters to high end customers who don't like mass produced modern throwaway products. The government seems only to care about the armaments industry. Everything else can be bought in. Thatcher used to say we didn't need heavy industry. We could suvive on financial services and tourism. Well Brexit has seen several of the top financiers open offices abroad to get around new regs and tourism has taken a hit because of Covid. Brickies, plumbers, and carpenters have gone back to Poland, etc. so who is filling the vacuum left in their wake? Not the Uni graduates with degrees in media studies, marine biology, or fine arts. There needs to be a balance. Cheap goods from China are all very well but when they completely displace our ability to produce our own it has gone too far.

Yep, Kaye was watching some house/decoration program the other day and they went to look for furniture and ended up in a place full of old filling cabinets and old office stuff. It was sad as I bet those were not from places that had replaced them with newer stuff but from places that had gone to the wall.

IBM announce 2nm devices:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57009930

jack wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:05 pm IBM announce 2nm devices:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57009930

Yep, I was reading about that. Impressive. Though its not actual 2nm, its equivalent to 2nm. Seems while I wasn't watching they started using 3D transistors. Density is a stunning 333 million transistors per square mm.

Blimey. The last jobs I handled at Plessey were 0.18 micron, with a tolerance of +/- 10nm! Those were designs for production at TSMC. The best we could mange in our own fab was 0.35u, or to put it another way 350nm. Thing have moved on since 2004....

I wonder what sort of lithography tools they use to do that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_u ... ithography
https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductor ... moores-law

good links..ta..

I only just learned about the finfet and now it's extinct....what is the world coming to!

we're doomed I tell ya, doomed.

edit...I am a bit confused though....with this fork are we still talking about 'anti Chinese'???

Nick wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 10:37 am https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_u ... ithography
https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductor ... moores-law

Being familiar with the ASML steppers we used to use for .35, I feel like a Sopwith Camel mechanic reading about Spacex Starship.