Birth of The Transistor: A video history of Japan's electronic industry. (Part 1)
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended in documentary and semiconductor-history threads as a detailed look at Japan's chip industry.
What it is
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 by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2018 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Recommends newman8r · 2018-09 · on “Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?”
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]
Recommends rmrfstar · 2020-06 · on “Officer of China’s People’s Liberation Army Arrested at LAX”
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]
Recommends JKCalhoun · 2022-07 · on “The Rise and Peak of Japanese Semiconductors”
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]