Bill Ford Interview, Chip Shortage

[Maverickman74]

I also put some blame on people who think they need to be able to change their home thermostat from their phone while at work, and their toaster needs a touchscreen that can look recipes up on the internet. (Saw one like that on Amazon)

The whole “Internet of things” in other words.

I actually blame everything on those people

I cant wait for a smart link cast iron pan so I can smash the touchscreen on my toilet with it!

Im really uninterested in most of this stuff until manipulateable holograms and implants are mainstream and cheap.

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[Captain]

Having touchscreens on everything will be one of those things future people will make fun of us for someday. Like how cell phones got tiny in the mid-00s, the giant CD albums we had in the 90s, and how everything was foil covered in the 50s.

Hey watch that 50’s stuff.. i
Sure I’m getting silver hair but it’s NOT TIN FOIL

 

[Churaumi]

Hey watch that 50’s stuff.. i
Sure I’m getting silver hair but it’s NOT TIN FOIL

Fair enough. Giant computers then?

Giant computers covered in foil?

 

[Firedog]

Ford is also building tech in Tennessee.

All this chip issue is one more reason to offer vehicle without all the dumb touchscreens, driving assists, and add manuals that dont take computers to operate. Just as a base option, for us poor folk.

There is probably a market for it. It wouldnt be for me but I can see a niche it would fill.

 

[Maverickman74]

There is probably a market for it. It wouldnt be for me but I can see a niche it would fill.

Yeah we dont really want a different car we just want a few less things on it standard. So we can afford it and afford to fix it.

 

[icegradner]

People in the industry have been saying the shortage would get better "later" for as long as there's been a shortage. If the fabs are near max output and things are still this short, I doubt it will get much better than it is now until new fabs open. Then again, it takes a while to make chips, so the max output will finally be hitting the market later this year?

People who are in the know have been saying they didn't expect any improvements until 2024-2025 time frame since the fall of 2020. Nobody listened to them, but that window seems most likely, since that is the period new production should come on line.

 

[sunismymed]

Agreed. Don't want any of it. The less a smartphone is involved in every day life, the better.

These gaudy touchscreens will crap out just the same. Except you'll be left with zero functionality, whereas my AM/FM radio still works

The name "smartphone" is like a joke, but if they called it "makeUdumbPhone" or "insecurityPhone" they wouldn't have sold as many.

There is new "Right To Repair" legislation that will force companies to release the tech info and allow consumers the right to repair stuff. John Deer was just trying to screw farmers, and Apple extorted scores of customers into buying new versions of iPod & iPhone users into buying new versions, otherwise loose their data.

Can we imagine the only choice being a blank screen, or paying $3000 for exclusive Ford authorized replacement, with enhanced "new DRM feature" maybe 3 or 4 years down the road?

We need to pepper our mostly useless politicians to make sure we get the right to repair, especially big ticket stuff. Otherwise it's just planned obsolescence, or obsolescence by extortion.

OK, I'm putting the keyboard down and moving away from the interweb for a few hours ...

 

[cjwagner]

Agreed. Don't want any of it. The less a smartphone is involved in every day life, the better. As far as all the touchscreens and all that crap, as has been mentioned in other posts on here, it's just one more thing with potential for failure. Guess how well my power mirrors, power windows, and tape deck work in the '97 Ranger? Spoiler alert: not well. These gaudy touchscreens will crap out just the same. Except you'll be left with zero functionality, whereas my AM/FM radio still works

"It's an Automatic". That just means it costs more to fix.

 

[Mikknj]

People in the industry have been saying the shortage would get better "later" for as long as there's been a shortage. If the fabs are near max output and things are still this short, I doubt it will get much better than it is now until new fabs open. Then again, it takes a while to make chips, so the max output will finally be hitting the market later this year?

The huge investment costs in these plants - mean that the risks must be kept low. So I suspect not much over capacity will ever happen I suspect they want to always build in a supply shortage.

 

[tonyinsd]

The huge investment costs in these plants - mean that the risks must be kept low. So I suspect not much over capacity will ever happen I suspect they want to always build in a supply shortage.

If you were running a semiconductor company, why would you want to spend billions of dollars on a factory if you weren't running it close to capacity? Sure, you'll have a buffer in there, but it's not going to be able to do something like double production in a month or two. That's excess capacity just sitting around, which costs money to build and money to maintain.

 

[hcforde]

If you were running a semiconductor company, why would you want to spend billions of dollars on a factory if you weren't running it close to capacity? Sure, you'll have a buffer in there, but it's not going to be able to do something like double production in a month or two. That's excess capacity just sitting around, which costs money to build and money to maintain.

Yep, that is a fixed cost that can increase with inflation!

 

[Fixer upper]

I read yesterday that Texas Instruments and Samsung are building multiple semiconductor plants in the US. Scheduled to be operational by 2025. Doesn't help in the short term, but these shortages should become a thing of the past.

And made in U.S.

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