Intel, EPA & Brown Field - Google's Ground Gurgitation

The Amp Hour · 26 Feb 2013 · 1h 05m · Episode 134

What this episode covers

Hosts Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the environmental legacy of Silicon Valley's semiconductor history, specifically Google's acquisition of a brownfield site formerly occupied by Intel fabs. They explore the concept of 'disruptive innovation' through Clayton Christensen's work, explaining how Intel created the Celeron processor to counter low-cost competitors like AMD and Cyrix. The conversation also covers the Koenigsegg hypercar's in-house hardware/software development, the shift in US patent law to 'first-to-file', and Dave Jones's ongoing power supply design project.

Mentioned

Companies
Google, Intel, AMD, Cyrix, Koenigsegg, DigiKey
Products
Celeron
Also
Dave Vandenbout, FPGAs? Now what?, Clayton Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma, Jack Ganssle

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 57m

    A Half-Century of Silicon Valley with Randy Shoup

    Randy Shoup, an engineering leader at Thrive Market and son of graphics pioneer Dick Shoup, discusses his 50-year journey through Silicon Valley, from his childhood at Xerox PARC to his career at Intel, Oracle, and eBay. He details his father's creation of SuperPaint and the concept of reconfigurable logic (FPGAs) in 1970, contrasting the generative culture of early PARC with modern corporate structures. Shoup also reflects on his own career path, including a failed law school attempt and the .com bubble, while arguing that remote work and distributed teams are the new frontier for innovation, challenging the current 'return to office' trend.

  • Moore's Lobby · 58m

    Ep. 27 | Two Google Senior VPs of Engineering: From Shipping Containers to Today's Data Centers

    Google Fellows Luiz Barroso and Amin Vahdat discuss the evolution of Google's data center infrastructure, from early 'broom closet' colocation facilities and shipping container prototypes to modern, energy-efficient warehouse-scale systems. They explain how Google shifted from relying on commodity hardware to designing custom domain-specific accelerators like TPUs for machine learning and video processing to overcome the limits of Moore's Law. The conversation also covers the critical importance of energy proportionality, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), and the cultural philosophy of 'healthy hubris' that drives Google's engineering decisions.

  • The Circuit · 14m

    The Circuit Ep:1 - Introductions

    Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, and Jay Goldberg, an investor in early-stage electronics and semiconductor companies, introduce their new podcast, The Circuit. They discuss the resurgence of interest in semiconductors, the economic implications of Moore's Law, and the shift toward chiplet architectures and advanced packaging to manage rising costs. The hosts outline future episodes covering geopolitics, supply chain resilience, and the strategic challenges facing major players like Intel and Apple.

  • Go/No-Go · 54m

    Federico Faggin designed the first microprocessor and the capacitive touchscreen. He joins Go/No-Go to argue that AI cannot be conscious, however capable it becomes.

    Federico Faggin, inventor of the Intel 4004 microprocessor and the capacitive touchscreen, recounts his journey from developing MOS silicon gate technology at Fairchild Semiconductor to founding Zilog and Synaptics. He details the physical realities of early chip design, such as hand-drawing transistors and using slide rules, and explains how he built the Z80 with only $400,000 and 11 people. Faggin argues in his book Irreducible that classical computers and AI cannot be conscious because they lack the quantum field interactions necessary for true feeling and free will.

  • The Circuit · 34m

    Episode 35: The State of Intel via Their Innovation Summit

    Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze Intel's Innovation Summit, noting the lack of major product announcements and the confirmation that Intel's 20A and 18A manufacturing processes are on track. They discuss Intel's strategic pivot to AI-integrated CPUs (Meteor Lake) and its Foundry Services (IFS) packaging capabilities, specifically the move to glass substrates and chiplet designs. The hosts conclude that while Intel's packaging is competitive, its core lithography process remains the critical factor for regaining market share against NVIDIA and AMD in a newly fragmented semiconductor landscape.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Amp Hour. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.