As other old timers here have mentioned: been there, done that. We somehow survived.
But this time the crisis appears that it will become wider and deeper.
And in Taiwan, they are having to decide whether they use water to make chips or grow food.
Add to that, in some circles, the talk of invasion.
Western existence in any part we call China must be eradicated. It's not called invasion, it's called unification.
A little unreasonable to blame auto manufacturers for this shortage don't you think?
Western existence
What is 'western existence'?
A little unreasonable to blame auto manufacturers for this shortage don't you think?They are partially to blame. They started doing things like individually driven LED strips on the inside of the car. Why is there an LED strip in the first place is beyond me, its awful ugly. There are buttons that are directly connected to CAN. A button, with an MCU and a CAN transceiver instead of wiring it to the nearest ECU. And suddenly you need several times the silicon to make a car.
And two weeks is actually a best case scenario in a forced unification even assuming no resistance and no outside of China interference.
It will be longer than two weeks. It will be forever. The only reason China has left Taiwan as is is because we want to get Western technology in through it. If Taiwan is a part controlled under the CCP, there is zero reason why the US would support it.
I blame Trump for this. Before Trump's reign, there was a harmonious balance where China takes advantage of Western technology through Taiwan, and US companies take advantage of the huge market of China through Taiwan, and Taiwan sits in between, benefited by both, all at the cost of the US losing its technological and potential military advantage to China.
Since capitalists can lobby the government in the US, China can persuade US companies enough to keep the scheme going by opening up some market. And don't worry about the "image", China and US companies can together fake it so it looks like China is changing so politically the US government was looking well in spreading ideology.
If Trump stayed quiet about all of this and behaved like his predecessors, there would not be any drama. US companies will keep gaining Chinese market, China will keep getting the latest Western technology, Taiwan will keep doing its man in the middle job, and US government will keep looking good as China is perceived to be changing.
Trump wanted to plug the hole that leaks technology to China, at the cost of US tech giants, China and Taiwan, all of them, hence the drama in the recent years. This guy knew nothing about maintaining such a delicate balance, and as a result all heaven broke loose.
What this overly patriotic orange fur ball did could bring the world, at least the technology world, to deep disaster.
A little unreasonable to blame auto manufacturers for this shortage don't you think?They are partially to blame. They started doing things like individually driven LED strips on the inside of the car. Why is there an LED strip in the first place is beyond me, its awful ugly. There are buttons that are directly connected to CAN. A button, with an MCU and a CAN transceiver instead of wiring it to the nearest ECU. And suddenly you need several times the silicon to make a car.
but then now you have the Front Left Door Team, the Widshield Team.. more EEs employed
Nothing new for certain manufacturers, that have been using 32bit+CAN for literally anything for decades
Then i think about how the buttons in my old fiat punto were handled. Even in the same block you could have at least 4 different methods:
Presence/Absence of signal at frequency X
PWM
Analog (5V means none pressed, level means combination of pressed)
Plain Digital
There is advantage in having an ECU for litterally anything which is diagnostic*, but some of the things are indeed ridiculous and driving up cost for no reason. Like internal led strip with adaptive level and color. No thanks, i want DARK and 4000€ off
*I am interfacing to an exhaust valve that evolved over time from pneumatic, then pneumatic controlled by solenoid, then electornic controlled by PWM but only open/close, then controlled by PWM variable opening, now it's LIN. one PID returns a frame of data containing istantaneout voltage/current at the motor, operating flags, target and actual position, which IMHO is rather cool. Could have been many wires or a dedicated ECU, now it's everything in the valve. Multiple valves don't require more wires
[...]
Forever is a long time. China's day in the sun will also end. Maybe hundreds of years.
The USA will remain a major power in the world (as long as we don't get too many more Trumps...)
Forever is a long time. China's day in the sun will also end. Maybe hundreds of years.
Don't forget also, that car makers have to explain to consumers why the average price of a new car in the USA is now north of $36,000... the explanation will be along the lines of how much more technology there is, and how much better the cars are, etc. etc. - but if you go back to first principles, they just get you from A to B, same as they always did, but with many more expensive components to keep alive!
Don't forget also, that car makers have to explain to consumers why the average price of a new car in the USA is now north of $36,000... the explanation will be along the lines of how much more technology there is, and how much better the cars are, etc. etc. - but if you go back to first principles, they just get you from A to B, same as they always did, but with many more expensive components to keep alive!
That's purely a matter of choice by car buyers.
You can get a pretty amazing brand new Toyota Corolla for US$20,025 (plus delivery and other bullshit). It's got:
- 1.8 litre engine, 139 HP, CVT transmission, 38 mpg highway
- long life LED headlights, daytime running lights, brake lights, etc
- backup camera with dynamic guides
- 6 speaker sound system with touchscreen, Apple Carplay and Android Auto
- automatic precollision braking with pedestrian detection
- lane departure alert with steering assist
- automatic high beams
- automatic road sign reading
- dynamic cruise control
- ten airbags including driver knee, front and rear side curtain
- tire pressure monitoring system
Don't forget also, that car makers have to explain to consumers why the average price of a new car in the USA is now north of $36,000... the explanation will be along the lines of how much more technology there is, and how much better the cars are, etc. etc. - but if you go back to first principles, they just get you from A to B, same as they always did, but with many more expensive components to keep alive!
That's purely a matter of choice by car buyers.
You can get a pretty amazing brand new Toyota Corolla for US$20,025 (plus delivery and other bullshit). It's got:
- 1.8 litre engine, 139 HP, CVT transmission, 38 mpg highway
- long life LED headlights, daytime running lights, brake lights, etc
- backup camera with dynamic guides
- 6 speaker sound system with touchscreen, Apple Carplay and Android Auto
- automatic precollision braking with pedestrian detection
- lane departure alert with steering assist
- automatic high beams
- automatic road sign reading
- dynamic cruise control
- ten airbags including driver knee, front and rear side curtain
- tire pressure monitoring system
You almost talked me into one, are you a car salesman in your day job?
Don't forget also, that car makers have to explain to consumers why the average price of a new car in the USA is now north of $36,000... the explanation will be along the lines of how much more technology there is, and how much better the cars are, etc. etc. - but if you go back to first principles, they just get you from A to B, same as they always did, but with many more expensive components to keep alive!
That's purely a matter of choice by car buyers.
You can get a pretty amazing brand new Toyota Corolla for US$20,025 (plus delivery and other bullshit). It's got:
Don't forget also, that car makers have to explain to consumers why the average price of a new car in the USA is now north of $36,000... the explanation will be along the lines of how much more technology there is, and how much better the cars are, etc. etc. - but if you go back to first principles, they just get you from A to B, same as they always did, but with many more expensive components to keep alive!
That's purely a matter of choice by car buyers.
You can get a pretty amazing brand new Toyota Corolla for US$20,025 (plus delivery and other bullshit). It's got:
This isn't said enough. You can buy a new Corolla or Civic for only slightly more than the inflation adjusted base price of a 1981 Ford Escort (base price $5500, or $17.5k today vs. $20k for the corolla). Even though the average person drives considerably more miles than in the 1980s the new car will last 3x as long, be incredibly reliable yet require almost no maintenance and will be dramatically safer with far lower emissions and better fuel economy even than the manual, much less the automatic which was crap. All this translates to a cost of ownership that is probably *half* of an economy car from the 80s.. And of course comfort and convenience will be far beyond what the 80s had to offer.
The reason the average new car costs nearly $40k isn't because cars got more expensive, it is that people are buying more expensive cars -- giant SUVs with leather seats from luxury brand names with all the bells and whistles. And to some extent that is even rational: people are spending more time than ever in their cars, and the cars are lasting much longer.