Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

silicon (the interesting part) inside plastic that you see is quite small and thin. You would need hundreds/thousands of them to approach the size/weight ratio to single steak.

And silicone that needs that high level of cleanliness is not cheap. Most chips are fabricated on larger/older processes that do not require that high level of cleanliness



The sliced wafer is small, but due to the precision and process requirements everything else is big. Chip fabs have a complete chemical plant in them because they need high purity solvents and deposition feedstock.

That older level of cleanliness is still above a typical pharma factory level cleanliness. (Where there's no laminar air flow and no need for bunny suits, but everything is sterile and consumables like containers, pipes, feedstock is unpacked right before. And there are a number of verification (QA) steps before the finished lot leaves the factory. Just like with chips, just in the pharma/chemical case it can be done in bulk if it's in a homogeneous liquid phase.)




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: