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The Computer Chip Paradox
The Spectator
founded 2004 by ron cruger
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 by Jon Burras
surfyogi@verizon.net
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     Every day we are bombarded with alarming news stories by
"technocrats" and media pundits about how we are experiencing a dramatic shortage of computer chips. We are called to alarm that this is a security issue and a national crisis. The alarm bells are ringing across the land and calls to quickly build giant computer chip factories in America have been answered as government subsidies have been handed out to help in the process. We have run out of a product that we have placed more important than air, water, gas and "Sriracha" hot sauce.

     Thousands of vehicles lay idle in remote parking lots waiting to be delivered and sold to prospective buyers. The only thing missing is their dozens of computer chips that run everything from the clock to the fuel injection system. Washing machines and refrigerators cannot be delivered because they are missing one key component—the almighty chip. Millions of individual products are delayed in production because we have run out of computer chips.

    The pandemic placed havoc on the global economy. Sources for the chip material were backlogged from workers being sidelined with Covid-19 or factories being closed for preventative measures. Truckers were told to go home and stay away from others. Supply chain issues soon backed up. Dependence on a fragile global supply chain brought many industries to a stand still, including the computer chip industry.

    Here is where were have a problem. We do not have a lack of computer chips. This is not a supply problem. This is a demand issue. We have created a world in which technology dominates and everything in our lives demands a computer chip. We are held hostage by the computer chip and the pandemic just threw everything out of whack.

     A modern car or truck now requires dozens or even hundreds of computer chips to operate. Simple features like a key are now replaced by a "key fob" in order to start the engine. I have been driving for nearly fifty-years and I never needed help changing lanes, backing up or parking. Now the engineers at auto makers think I am stupid and incompetent as they have created more tech devices to assist me like back-up cameras and lane changing warning lights. I no longer have to remember to turn on my headlights as the computerized car will do that for me. This is why our automobiles are more like a computer with wheels. All of these tiny computers require many computer chips.

    Products from clothing to sporting equipment all demand computer chips. There are running shoes with computer chips in them that record your speed and distance traveled. Sporting equipment often has a computer chip in it like golf clubs, golf balls and even golf gloves. We have this obsession with measuring and calculating data as your Apple watch might tell you how many steps you have taken or what your heart rate is. I miss the good old days of the wind- up Timex watch that just needed a battery change every couple of years.

     A toaster, refrigerator or washing machine all have computer chips in them. Do you really need your toaster to tell you when the toast is brown enough? Do you really need the refrigerator to remind you that you are out of milk? Do you really need your washing machine to tell you how much water and soap you are using?

     It is self-evident that we really do not have a computer chip problem. We have a design issue. Just because you can do something does not mean that you should. An appliance that is loaded with computer chips will break down far quicker than an old analog one. A car with dozens of computer chips is far more costly to fix when something is broken. The tech world has bombarded us with products that are cool and fancy but are they really better? While the geeks have won the design battle they have not really served us that well.

   Living in a high-tech world is certainly a different world than the old analog world of switches and knobs. But it is not necessarily a better world. While we are certainly able to do more and have more possibilities living in a world of computer chips and technology, there are many problems this world creates.

     We do not have a computer chip shortage. We have a runaway society that is addicted to technology. We have an ever-increasing demand on a product that is keeping us held hostage. We are like a heroin addict seeking our next fix. Instead of heroin we are addicted to the almighty chip.

    Like any addiction, I do not see any real solution any time soon. The "techie" designers of all products will continue to try to convince us that our modern day computer-chip-derived products are so much better than your grandmother's old toaster (which might have lasted more than fifty-years and worked just fine). In the meantime, the only suggestion I might have is take some time and spend it in nature. When you are hugging that old redwood tree you are not dependent on a computer chip for yours or the tree's well being.