[ghghgfdfgh]

That's good for him, but it means we'll never find out in the near future whether it's possible for the average person to create useful ICs in their garage.

[nwiswell]

It's very similar to creating clothes by hand at home.

Can you do it, given the right tools, training, and patience? Yes.

Will they be any good? No.

Will they be cost-competitive? No.

Getting chips made on a shuttle run for an old node is very affordable. There's really no need for it.

(According to one MPW supplier, 10mm2 of 340nm, up to 10 dies, costs 6400 euros, and it's unlikely 340nm is achievable in a garage anyway)

[ghghgfdfgh]

From a business perspective, I agree that it’s a fool’s errand. But imagine being able to design and tangibly build your own computer, at home. 6400 euros is pennies for a business, but exorbitant for an individual.

I believe the way Sam Zeloof circumvents the enormous amount of capital needed for a chip fab by relying on modern technology to create 1970’s technology. He simply mounts a cheap digital projector onto a cheap microscope - they didn’t have that advantage in the 70s, and thus it cost millions to start a chip fab. My point is that it could conceivably be doable for an individual to create old computing technology with the advantages of living in the modern world. I certainly don’t have the drive to do it, but I wish someone did.

[ghaff]

Maybe a little different. For narrow enough definitions of "clothing," homemade clothing can be good. And there are other artisanal homemade crafts (e.g. woodworking) that can be good. But I agree in general.

[abdullahkhalids]

Will it give a 100% guarantee that there are no backdoors in your device? Yes.

This yes can be priceless in some circumstances.

[xeonmc]

really the main dealbreaker is HF at home, the rest of chipmaking really isn't that complicated on the process level for a crude design.

[trueismywork]

It's possible yes, but not really..