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I have coworkers that used to work in chip manufacturing (used to being the key phrase) and they saw what you are describing first hand. One example they gave,

I have coworkers that used to work in chip manufacturing (used to being the key phrase) and they saw what you are describing first hand. One example they gave, it used to be someone's job to load and unload the silicon wafers into the various etching phases. As time went on more and more of that manual work was replaced with automation. A floor with 50 workers became 25, then 10, then 1. And, to be clear, this was absolutely a good thing for the product. So many yield issues were caused by manual processes. The future of any manufacturing is that of high automation. That means low to no jobs. We aren't going back to an economy where a shoe factory employes 500 people. What's particularly bleak, IMO, is society in the US revolves around work. Every job out there is being automated away. That's not a bad thing for quality, but what it means is there will be increasingly fewer jobs to go around.

bushbaba 1y ago
Automation lowers costs, which increases consumption. We essentially trade time for dollars, and then dollars for goods that themselves took time to produce. While the exchange rate of time-for-time stays constant, automation means we now get more goods for the same amount of time worked. So it’s not nearly as bleak as you make it out to be.
- sitzkrieg 1y ago
  but if my income is $0/yr, how am i suppose to subscribe to platforms and internet and consume ads
- raincom 1y ago
  The real problem lies elsewhere: yes, it is cheaper to buy goods made by automation. People need jobs to make a living--pay rent/mortgage, health insurance, etc. Automation is needed to make a living easy: cheaper housing, cheaper access to health, etc. And this is not possible for the foreseeable future.
magicalhippo 1y ago
> I have coworkers that used to work in chip manufacturing (used to being the key phrase) A family friend was a chip designer for a large European company. Back in the 2000s he told me he saw the writing on the wall as they moved manufacturing to Asia. He said he expected design to follow not long after, and sure enough some 5 or so years later he lost his job as they moved design department closer to the factories. Perhaps it's different now, but as I recall he said there were advantages of chip designers being close to the chip manufacturing folks.
- cameldrv 1y ago
  I’ve seen the advantages firsthand. The test guys would drive across town and pick up some chips hot off the fab, put them on the scope under various conditions, and then be pushing updates in a day or two. The designer could actually sit with the test guy and fiddle with the tests to understand the problem better, and then walk upstairs and mess with the simulator. None of this can happen at nearly the fluidity or speed when you’re designing, producing, dicing, packaging, and testing the chips all in different time zones.
  - franktankbank 1y ago
    Which isn't exactly a reason to continue offshoring, to be clear.
platevoltage 1y ago
If the average person can’t afford any of the products being made, and the inevitable handful of trillionaires have more money that they could possibly spend, society will have a big problem on its hands.

bushbaba 1y ago

Automation lowers costs, which increases consumption. We essentially trade time for dollars, and then dollars for goods that themselves took time to produce. While the exchange rate of time-for-time stays constant, automation means we now get more goods for the same amount of time worked. So it’s not nearly as bleak as you make it out to be.

sitzkrieg 1y ago
but if my income is $0/yr, how am i suppose to subscribe to platforms and internet and consume ads
raincom 1y ago
The real problem lies elsewhere: yes, it is cheaper to buy goods made by automation. People need jobs to make a living--pay rent/mortgage, health insurance, etc. Automation is needed to make a living easy: cheaper housing, cheaper access to health, etc. And this is not possible for the foreseeable future.

magicalhippo 1y ago

> I have coworkers that used to work in chip manufacturing (used to being the key phrase) A family friend was a chip designer for a large European company. Back in the 2000s he told me he saw the writing on the wall as they moved manufacturing to Asia. He said he expected design to follow not long after, and sure enough some 5 or so years later he lost his job as they moved design department closer to the factories. Perhaps it's different now, but as I recall he said there were advantages of chip designers being close to the chip manufacturing folks.

cameldrv 1y ago
I’ve seen the advantages firsthand. The test guys would drive across town and pick up some chips hot off the fab, put them on the scope under various conditions, and then be pushing updates in a day or two. The designer could actually sit with the test guy and fiddle with the tests to understand the problem better, and then walk upstairs and mess with the simulator. None of this can happen at nearly the fluidity or speed when you’re designing, producing, dicing, packaging, and testing the chips all in different time zones.
- franktankbank 1y ago
  Which isn't exactly a reason to continue offshoring, to be clear.

platevoltage 1y ago

If the average person can’t afford any of the products being made, and the inevitable handful of trillionaires have more money that they could possibly spend, society will have a big problem on its hands.