A must-read for technology fans. ITC.ua review

Humanity rarely thinks about, and often simply does not know, the crucial role of chips, which have actually created the modern world. The fate of entire countries, their past, present, and future positions in geopolitics are linked to chips and depend on their creation and printing, as well as on the extremely complex and expensive machines that produce them. US military power is based on chips, as is modern globalization. The fall of the USSR and then Russia is also due to chips, as is the economic and political growth of China and other Asian countries.

«Чипова війна»

Pluses:

good quality of the publication with a glossy finish; the author vividly and deeply tells and explores a crucial topic for the modern world; many interesting facts about a variety of tech companies and the people behind them; detailed analysis of the industry with logical forecasts for the future

Minuses:

chapters about the current political and economic confrontation between states may not be as interesting to some as the history of companies and chips themselves; the author looks at the semiconductor industry from the American perspective, and he is not interested in other sides

«Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology»

Author Chris Miller
Translator Volodymyr Tsybka
Publisher «Our Format»
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 432
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2024
Size 140×210 mm
Website nashformat.ua

There are chips in every gadget or household appliance around you. Look around you, and within a few meters you will find several appliances, gadgets, or devices equipped with chips. It is these little gizmos that may lead to real military conflicts in the future, although the behind-the-scenes and economic struggle for them has been going on for decades. And judging by the book «Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology» by Chris Miller from «Our Format» this will definitely happen, and we can already see China’s desire to occupy Taiwan. There are many historical and political reasons for this, but one of the main ones, if not the main one, is the world’s largest semiconductor factory, TSMC.

A large part of this book is devoted to the history of the semiconductor industry, so anyone interested in this topic will find something to read here. The author provides many interesting facts that few people know. For example, the Taiwanese company TSMC was founded by Morris Chang, an American of Chinese descent who previously headed Texas Instruments. It also tells about the founder of Intel, Bob Noyce, who started at the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor, and about many other companies and their founders. I also didn’t know about the Dutch company ASML, which creates the world’s most technologically advanced machines for creating ultra-thin silicon chips. It is, without exaggeration, one of the most influential and important companies in the world today.

And connoisseurs of Samsung technology will be surprised to learn that long ago the company started by selling dried fish. Other goods and products followed, and the Korean giant entered the electronics segment much later, literally investing in the then new and promising semiconductor industry.

In general, the «Chip War» dates back to the 1940s, when scientists first invented semiconductors and started working with them. Therefore, it is also an interesting study of the industry, a fascinating historical work about the beginning, development, and present-day technologies. That’s why «Chip War» will be interesting for most ITC.ua readers, so I highly recommend it.

The book also explains different types of chips, the logic of conventional and GPUs in an accessible way. It clearly explains the different architectures (X86, ARM, and RISC), why and how they appeared, how they developed, etc.

Chris Miller logically explains how difficult it is to produce high-quality chips, and how few companies and countries can do it. For example, he talks about the aforementioned EUV machine from the Dutch company ASML, which is needed to create high-quality chips. No other company in the world is able to do this, and if something happens to ASML, the global semiconductor industry will probably be in a stalemate.

However, the complexity of these technologies is not only this. The fact is that very few companies in the world, including the well-known TSMC, Intel, Samsung and several others, can successfully use EUV technology to make silicon wafers.

It is noteworthy that none of these companies are located in China, so the best modern and high-tech chips are made in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Singapore, and several Western European countries. But more than 40% of it is produced by the Taiwanese giant TSMC. It is the country’s greatest asset and the most coveted piece in the almost inevitable Chinese invasion.

However, not all of the book is a solid historical account of technology. Another part of the book is devoted to the political, espionage, and economic confrontation between the United States and China, the United States and Japan, South Korea, and other Asian countries. These chapters are not as interesting, at least for me, as the ones devoted to the history of technology, but they provide an adequate understanding of the world and politics for the near future, including possible wars, local or global conflicts.

Also, you should know that the author of this book is a canonical American, so here he often takes the position of the United States and discusses what it needs to do to remain in the lead, tells where it made mistakes and where it was successful, and advises certain things to gain more influence or seize the initiative from other countries. These moments may not be that interesting, but they are definitely very useful for anyone who wants to understand possible future plans of the United States. Especially with the current aggressive power of Trump and his team.

The book «Chip War. The Struggle for the World’s Most Important Technology» I liked. It has an eye-catching cover, thick and yellow paper that is pleasant to the touch, and it has a comfortable binding. I also like the font used.