The Silicon Age

The Modern Age is defined by solid state devices. New Albion has its own semiconductor foundries.

Video caption text
00:00
[Foreboding orchestral music]
[Gustav Holst: Mars, the Bringer of War]
00:22
[Music]
[Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance (Land of Hope and Glory)]
00:32
This is New Albion on Mars
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The late 20th and early 21st centuries are
defined by the use of solid state devices:
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the Silicon Age.
00:45
Solid state devices are very nearly as essential
to life at New Albion as food and water.
00:52
An interruption to the supply of semiconductor
devices would be equally devastating,
00:57
even if the problems take a little
longer to manifest.
01:02
Some electronic appliances here have made
the long journey from Earth,
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but many new solid state devices are manufactured
entirely at New Albion.
01:12
We have semiconductor foundries - or "fabs" - at
New Albion, some set up using
01:18
equipment brought from Earth, while a few are
first generation domestic design and build.
01:24
Solid state devices manufactured at New Albion
conform to the strict requirements of
01:29
our circular economy, such as full disclosure of
design and reusable interfaces between components.
01:38
Earth-origin devices rarely meet our circular
economy requirements,
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hence are officially "complex rubbish".
01:47
That smart device you're using is only "smart" by Earth standards.
01:54
[Dissonant clashing orchestral music]
[Gustav Holst: Mars, the Bringer of War]
02:12
[orchestral music continues]