RC286
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2018–2022
40:43 · 1.2M views · Nov 15, 2013
First part of a four-part video history of Japan's electronics industry, covering the birth of the transistor and the rise of Japanese semiconductors. It appears to draw on NHK documentary material.
Recommended in documentary and semiconductor-history threads as a detailed look at Japan's chip industry.
3 comments from Hacker News
This is bad read on the history of innovation. I offer two counter-examples, though there are many more: (1) Japanese semiconductor industry, for which there is an excellent NHK documentary [1]. (2) After WW2, the British invited Soviet engineers to tour jet engine factories as a token of good faith. The engineers documented the factory layout, and wore adhesive on their shoes to gather metal filings for later analysis. A few years later, Mig-15's were shooting American planes out of the sky over Korea. A similar example: the British transferred huge bodies of knowledge to US aircraft engine manufacturers during WW2. This laid the foundation for the industry's future success. [1] this video
I wouldn't call it the best documentary, but I think people here will like it, it's a 4 part documentary: "A Video History of Japan's Electronic Industry" I. Birth of the transformer: this video II. Circuits in stone: [LINK] III. Calculator wars: [LINK] IV. Tech Giant: [LINK]
There is a four-part documentary I saw on YouTube that went into much more (fascinating) detail. Part 1: this video Part 2: [LINK] Part 3: [LINK] Part 4: [LINK]