honestly...I don't wanna fix computing so much as I wanna just _replace_ it

like, so much of what we do, the gadgets that we want, don't even really need microcontrollers to do what they do. our tech has gotten ridiculously overpowered in some ways

"uh I need to turn on this light...can we do that with an Arduino"

I want a different culture, with different gadgets

@Alyx @diodelass I once spent hours putting together a fan controller using a 555 and a dual opamp. I promptly plugged in the power backwards and fried it. 5 minutes later I had replicated the entire project with an atmega.

The problem is that putting a microchip in it is cheaper and easier than the alternative in most cases

@cinebox @diodelass do you foresee having access to large-scale integration in perpetuity

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@cinebox I'm wondering about fifty years down the line when global warming has made a mess of the world economy. like, what's still gonna be around

@Alyx tbh I see the 555s and discrete opamps disappearing first

@cinebox @Alyx oof, what will be left after the semiconductor industry crashes, you mean?
homemade vacuum tubes, probably.

@diodelass @Alyx I think there’s enough of these things in the wold for them to still be used, sorta like how hobbyists currently treat Nixie tubes

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