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Since reading Chris Miller’s “Chip War” last year I can’t stop thinking about this. The phone I’m writing this on is alien technology. Chips made by etching patterns so small they can’t even be seen by visible light, using lasers created by heating tin to the surface temperature of the sun.

The laser is guided by mirrors so flat that if they were blown up to the size of Germany, the maximum excursion would be ~1 millimetre. Lasers so complicated only 1 company in the world is capable of making them, and doing so requires parts from more than 800 other companies.

I’ve started to believe that technology’s biggest bottleneck in 2025 is human creativity. And that’s not even to say we aren’t creative! We absolutely are, but the sheer scale of the tiny little chips in our pockets is mind boggling.

Okay after this description I'm sold on this book. Technology is truly amazing and I don't appreciate it nearly enough.