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Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

reuters.com

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Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#421

Post by fault1 »

lr4444lr wrote: post #319
gaoshan wrote: post #122

This is actually a brilliant location for them. One of those places that has much more going for it than people not from the region would realize. International airport, large rail depot, extremely low cost of living and a city/region that has more good restaurants and activities than might be expected. Ohio State University is in the city and is a huge school that is rapidly growing in academic standing. Road transi…

Does it have a sufficiently educated workforce, or can it convince enough of one to move there, though?

It's Columbus, so yes. It's also one of the fastest growing cities in the upper midwest, afaik.

There are a ton of good big10 engineering schools, and columbus should be able to draw from the east coast as well, since it's a LOT less expensive (currently).

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#422

Post by jeffbee »

asdff wrote: post #388
rmah wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is $1300/mo supposed to be high? I've seen parking spaces going for $600/mo where I live.

IMO thats high for ohio with the wages seen, considering you can find studios at that rate or 1br for a few hundred more in the LA area.

LA has by far the worst wages-to-rent ratio in the entire nation so I'm a bit skeptical of you claim here. Also note that the other post said a new apartment.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#423

Post by ericmay »

shroompasta wrote: post #420
ericmay wrote: post #403

Really disappointed in many of the negative and insecure comments coming from members of this community saying “Ohio sucks” or “Ohio State University sucks because it’s not Stanford” or “how many startups does Ohio have”. It really reflects poorly on those making these comments and I can’t help but think seeing a state not on the east or west coast being selected is causing fear and uncertainty in the lives of those…

I may be wrong, but I'm assuming one of the cardinal factors in the location came down to the cheapest labor they could find. Competing with labor, in terms of willingness to work for a low wage, against Asia is next to impossible for these fabs.

Balanced with other things I think. Ohio doesn’t have the cheapest labor in the US. Probably would be cheaper in Mississippi or maybe Georgia or Tennessee but I’m not sure.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#424

Post by elihu »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #160
hnov wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do EVs not have all of the ancillaries hanging off CANBUS or something? Or is the lion's share of chips in an ICE vehicle engine and transmission control?

Of course. There isn’t an EV in the world that is less complex than it’s ICE counterpart. GP is very mistaken. I wrote a longer explanation above.

Most of the complexity of EVs is just generic modern car complexity, though. EVs don't have to be any more complicated than ICE vehicles, and EV conversions especially are usually really simple (though to be fair a lot of the vehicles being converted are old classic cars that didn't have any computers in them to begin with).

The EV drivetrain might have more or less computers than an ICE drivetrain, but really managing batteries and a motor isn't inherently all that complicated. On the ICE side of things you have a lot more moving parts and the necessity of keeping everything properly tuned so it can pass emissions checks.

Braking and traction control I could see being fairly complicated, but it's a similar problem whether it's an ICE engine or an electric motor.

Self-driving is hugely complicated, but that's not complexity that's inherent to EVs specifically, it's just a feature that's usually only implemented on EVs for some reason.

All the other stuff: infotainment, tire pressure sensors, back up cameras, and so on are just modern car complexity.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#425

Post by justin66 »

tmp538394722 wrote: post #286
mNovak wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact, Ohio was supposedly high on the Soviet nuke target list, because of Wright Patterson AFB, which houses the Air Force Research Lab (and aliens). I have an old Soviet invasion map of central Ohio, marking all potential airfields etc.

The small town I grew up in also had a specific Soviet doomsday theory. Which in hindsight, doesn’t feel very plausible. In the wake of the George Floyd protests family talked about their concern that out of state “Antifa looters” were spotted driving down the interstate headed right for them. I don’t mean to call you a liar, Im sure there indeed are some obscure targets, and your home might be one. I do think it’s a…

In fairness to the parent poster, in the event of nuclear war an Air Force base with two runways longer than two miles each isn't an obscure target, it's just a target.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#426

Post by defaultname »

ericmay wrote: post #403

Really disappointed in many of the negative and insecure comments coming from members of this community saying “Ohio sucks” or “Ohio State University sucks because it’s not Stanford” or “how many startups does Ohio have”. It really reflects poorly on those making these comments and I can’t help but think seeing a state not on the east or west coast being selected is causing fear and uncertainty in the lives of those…

Scanned this submission several times today, never seeing a single negative comment about Ohio. I did chuckle at one pro-Ohio that basically said it's a great place because it has [list of things that every metropolitan everywhere has], but whatever.

After seeing your comment I dug through the comments and found a single negative comment that is clearly written by someone from and in Ohio.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#427

Post by grayfaced »

eeeeeeehio wrote: post #344
theandrewbailey wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half of Ohio is flat, and gets lots of storms that blow through the plains and prairies from the west, so not exactly low probability of tornadoes. Source: I grew up in central Ohio. Public schools made it a point to practice tornado drills. In addition, there was an old Cold War-era air raid siren a block from the house I grew up in that had been repurposed and tested for tornado warnings. One of these: https://www.…

Even large, damaging tornadoes have quite localized impacts (max of maybe a mile in path width) -- and you don't generally do much more than stay up to building code in order to prepare for one. In contrast, earthquakes devastate entire areas and require substantial changes to building construction in order to protect against them. The probability of a large, damaging tornado at a particular spot in Ohio is quite sma…

Tornado protection is mostly about avoiding damage in the periphery of a tornado. A building of that size can't realistically be protected from a direct hit of a major tornado. Proper engineering can protect a building from basically all earthquakes. Whether the contents inside are secured properly is a different matter and that's where most damage occurs.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#428

Post by mirker »

ksec wrote: post #50
missedthecue wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ohio is situated on the great lakes and therefore has a lot of cheaply available water, while Arizona does not. Chip production is water intensive. Not to mention the vast expanses of cheap land, and their electricity costs are pretty low as well. These could be reasons.

Modern Fabs can recycle its water usage by up to 90%. Electricity cost for Business in both state seems to be about the same. Land are cheap as well ( From what I have been told ). You do get operational efficiency from having Fabs all located within one place. And that is a quote from TSMC's ex-CEO Morris Chang. That is why I wonder if there is something missing. Or is it the simplest explanation Not to put all eggs…

One guess: if the reliability of Intel is considered a national security issue, they may get funding specifically to be more reliable to offset these costs.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#429

Post by lotsofpulp »

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #382
KerrAvon wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must not be aware of the ongoing threats to abortion in Ohio? https://www.abortionislegalinohio.com/ You can say that it's not technically illegal now, but it's unquestionably under assault in a way that it's not and won't ever be in California.

So you're saying maybe in the future there might be an issue? Also plenty of people here want to ban abortion too. Tons of small counties have managed to prevent any kind of reproductive health clinics from opening or defacto forced them to close.

Makes sense to me to play to where the ball will likely be, not currently is, if your investment timeframe will be many years in the future. I believe Texas just effectively came to within an inch of banning abortions outright, but effectively they reduced people’s access to it.

My prediction is state governments will make a big difference in quality of life for many people.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#430

Post by CamperBob2 »

eeeeeeehio wrote: post #344
theandrewbailey wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half of Ohio is flat, and gets lots of storms that blow through the plains and prairies from the west, so not exactly low probability of tornadoes. Source: I grew up in central Ohio. Public schools made it a point to practice tornado drills. In addition, there was an old Cold War-era air raid siren a block from the house I grew up in that had been repurposed and tested for tornado warnings. One of these: https://www.…

Even large, damaging tornadoes have quite localized impacts (max of maybe a mile in path width) -- and you don't generally do much more than stay up to building code in order to prepare for one. In contrast, earthquakes devastate entire areas and require substantial changes to building construction in order to protect against them. The probability of a large, damaging tornado at a particular spot in Ohio is quite sma…

you don't generally do much more than stay up to building code in order to prepare for one.

Interesting. I'm unfamiliar with building code provisions that are designed to mitigate the effects of tornadoes, which are arguably the most destructive force on Earth apart from an erupting volcano or a nuclear attack, on a semiconductor fab, which is arguably among the most sensitive and easily-disrupted facilities ever built. Any good sources for further reading?

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