South Korea Defied the Gods to Build its Steel Colossus

General Motors Dreamt of Robots

In March 1982, General Motors announced a rapid and aggressive conversion to robotics. By 1990, GM wanted 14,000 robots in their factories doing everything from painting to welding to assembly. Nowadays, we dream of robots in the factories, doing everything end to end. In the dark. Lights out. Guess what, GM dreamed the same 40 years ago. And they spent an estimated $60 billion to try to make it reality. In today’s video, we look at General Motors and their dreams of the automated, all-robot factory. ---------------------------------------- Get all episodes of Asianometry, Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, and Dithering as part of Stratechery Plus [https://stratechery.passport.online/member/plan/4ycW4SE71Cy6ryrijywbTG] for $15/month or $150/year. ---------------------------------------- Listen to Stratechery [https://open.spotify.com/show/1jRACH7L8EQCYKc5uW7aPk]. Listen to Dithering [https://open.spotify.com/show/2qrjQTO7wFlkAs6juz1w1W]. Listen to Sharp China [https://open.spotify.com/show/4PGk72vZmL2uHwUB8Yqssk]. Listen to Sharp Tech [https://open.spotify.com/show/4vk2MfVMEAuOnTWUOz6lnE]. Listen to Greatest Of All Talk [https://open.spotify.com/show/29hrPvq9yABUvxAgSojUJE].

Sweden Made DC Great Again

The first electricity systems were Direct Current. It worked, but there was a problem. DC didn’t transmit easy. Thus arose a new technology built around Alternating Current. AC. The two sides clashed briefly, but the winner was clear. AC won. Sixty years later, a subsea power link to an island in Sweden transmitted a new message: DC was back. In today’s video, the rise, fall, and re-rise of DC power transmission. ---------------------------------------- Get all episodes of Asianometry, Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, and Dithering as part of Stratechery Plus [https://stratechery.passport.online/member/plan/4ycW4SE71Cy6ryrijywbTG] for $15/month or $150/year. ---------------------------------------- Listen to Stratechery [https://open.spotify.com/show/1jRACH7L8EQCYKc5uW7aPk]. Listen to Dithering [https://open.spotify.com/show/2qrjQTO7wFlkAs6juz1w1W]. Listen to Sharp China [https://open.spotify.com/show/4PGk72vZmL2uHwUB8Yqssk]. Listen to Sharp Tech [https://open.spotify.com/show/4vk2MfVMEAuOnTWUOz6lnE]. Listen to Greatest Of All Talk [https://open.spotify.com/show/29hrPvq9yABUvxAgSojUJE].

An Interview with Josh Fisher: Inventing VLIW, Multiflow, Itanium, VLIW’s Massive Success

⁠ I don’t do that many interviews, but when Josh Fisher emailed me after the first VLIW video came out, I figured I had to take a shot and ask. And to my great pleasure, he agreed. Fisher is winner of the Eckert–Mauchly Award and a pioneer of VLIW architecture. I consider him a legend. ---------------------------------------- Get all episodes of Asianometry, Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, and Dithering as part of Stratechery Plus [https://stratechery.passport.online/member/plan/4ycW4SE71Cy6ryrijywbTG] for $15/month or $150/year. ---------------------------------------- Listen to Stratechery [https://open.spotify.com/show/1jRACH7L8EQCYKc5uW7aPk]. Listen to Dithering [https://open.spotify.com/show/2qrjQTO7wFlkAs6juz1w1W]. Listen to Sharp China [https://open.spotify.com/show/4PGk72vZmL2uHwUB8Yqssk]. Listen to Sharp Tech [https://open.spotify.com/show/4vk2MfVMEAuOnTWUOz6lnE]. Listen to Greatest Of All Talk [https://open.spotify.com/show/29hrPvq9yABUvxAgSojUJE].

Fanuc and the Numerical Control Revolution

The machinist occupies a special place in industry. Using a set of mechanized tools, and drawing on years of experience and vibes, they take something from raw metal to finished form. Machining was part science, part magic. A respected craft that brought pride and a good living to its many practitioners. Then in the 1950s, a revolutionary new technology sought to replace the machinist’s capabilities with a string of numbers. One Japanese company arose to take the fullest advantage of this trend. In today’s video, the rise of Numerical Control, CNC, and Fanuc. ---------------------------------------- Get all episodes of Asianometry, Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, and Dithering as part of Stratechery Plus [https://stratechery.passport.online/member/plan/4ycW4SE71Cy6ryrijywbTG] for $15/month or $150/year. ---------------------------------------- Listen to Stratechery [https://open.spotify.com/show/1jRACH7L8EQCYKc5uW7aPk]. Listen to Dithering [https://open.spotify.com/show/2qrjQTO7wFlkAs6juz1w1W]. Listen to Sharp China [https://open.spotify.com/show/4PGk72vZmL2uHwUB8Yqssk]. Listen to Sharp Tech [https://open.spotify.com/show/4vk2MfVMEAuOnTWUOz6lnE]. Listen to Greatest Of All Talk [https://open.spotify.com/show/29hrPvq9yABUvxAgSojUJE].

South Korea Defied the Gods to Build its Steel Colossus

South Korean President Park Chung-hee believed that steel is national power. He wanted a huge integrated steel mill in South Korea. But the Western powers were skeptical. South Korea was extremely poor, without substantial iron reserves. Their workers, uneducated. For South Korea to go straight to what was then the most capital-intensive heavy industry was to defy economic orthodoxy. Too soon. Too inefficient. But Park Chung-hee believed Korea needed steel. So he pushed his country to build one of the world’s most advanced steel companies. In today’s video, we go back to the world of steel and recount one of South Korea’s most iconic companies: POSCO. ---------------------------------------- Get all episodes of Asianometry, Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, and Dithering as part of Stratechery Plus [https://stratechery.passport.online/member/plan/4ycW4SE71Cy6ryrijywbTG] for $15/month or $150/year. ---------------------------------------- Listen to Stratechery [https://open.spotify.com/show/1jRACH7L8EQCYKc5uW7aPk]. Listen to Dithering [https://open.spotify.com/show/2qrjQTO7wFlkAs6juz1w1W]. Listen to Sharp China [https://open.spotify.com/show/4PGk72vZmL2uHwUB8Yqssk]. Listen to Sharp Tech [https://open.spotify.com/show/4vk2MfVMEAuOnTWUOz6lnE]. Listen to Greatest Of All Talk [https://open.spotify.com/show/29hrPvq9yABUvxAgSojUJE].