[TML] Does "Operation Reset" Make Sense?

[Zane H. Healy]

At 2:10 PM -0500 12/2/07, Richard Aiken wrote:
>On Dec 1, 2007 3:25 PM,  <shadow at shadowgard.com> wrote:

>  > A quite modest voltage will "burn thrn" the PN junctions inside the
>>  part. Causing permanent damage ythat'd have to be repaired by
>>  shifting atoms inside the substrate.
>
>Okay.  The fixing burned chips is out, unless we invoke the Science! skill.

Fixing burned out chips is just plain out.

Even manufacturing replacements wouldn't be practical, it would take 
years to rebuild the necessary infrastructure if it gets fried. 
However, small scale fabs exist all over the place, it is likely that 
some sort of manufacturing facilities would survive.  I've a bad 
feeling the major manufacturing centers would be considered strategic 
military targets in this day and age, and likely to be targeted in 
the event of a nuclear war.  There is also the question of the design 
files needed to fabricate modern electronic devices.  Schematics 
haven't been available since the 80's for most devices, and even then 
the chips were largely black boxes.  Just tracing out a circuit can 
be "fun".  The software used in the various steps is quite 
specialized, often very expensive, and often requiring specific 
license keys.  All in all

In the event of a global collapse brought upon by nuclear war, 
pandemic, biological attacks, global warming, etc., one of the key 
problems will be that the manufacturing of any high-tech devices are 
so spread out that without transportation links, the manufacture will 
become impractical.  In fact if such an event occurs, China might be 
the only country left capable of producing high-tech equipment, which 
would give them a serious military advantage in the aftermath.

Realistically you'd probably be looking at scavenged modern tech, 
with any new manufacturing being at closer to 1910 through 1950's 
tech levels.  This exhibits why it is important to preserve 
information on how to build and maintain that old of equipment. 
Having this information digitized and online doesn't cut it, the 
information needs to be retained in a paper format.

BTW, you'd originally said:
>possible problem. The default adventure plot for this product involves
>a covert operation to acquire a secret invention: a bread-boarded,
>re-configurable macroscale electronic replacement for the silicon
>microchips that were fried by all that EMP.  Everybody and his cousin
>(DIA, CIA, KGB, Shin Bet, etc, etc) is supposed to be trying to get
>their hands on the plans for this item.

Personally this sounds like an EMP hardened FPGA development board. 
No idea if such a thing exists, but I doubt it.  In any case, it 
doesn't really make a whole lot of sense as to why everyone would be 
after one.  Why are they after it?  A good reason for that and it 
might make a lot more sense.

Something to consider is when the plot was written, at that time, 
electronics were a *LOT* simpler.  In the mid-80's tech was such that 
you could still work on it fairly easily with stuff you'd find at 
Radio Shack, now you need special micro-miniature repair tools.

Here is an idea, how about a fully functional 3D printer.  Right now 
they're only able to make fairly basic objects I believe, but in a 
few years, especially using nanotechnology, who knows what they might 
be capable of.

		Zane


-- 
| Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Administrator |
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