Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage • Hacker News Board

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#51

Post by hef19898 » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 6:07 PM UTC

itsoktocry wrote: post #9

xani_ wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the pretty vanilla chip I waited year for last year is now only on 48 weeks lead time... The other a bit less common one is only few months tho, compared to year+ so I guess it slowly is. Inflation probably helped too

> only on 48 weeks lead time... Small end-users receiving chips is a lagging indicator of the state of the supply chain. Companies are already warning about surplus inventory, ie: https://moneyweek.com/economy/global-economy/605232/semicond...

Beware the Bullwhip Effect!

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#52

Post by dylan604 » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 6:11 PM UTC

abduhl wrote: post #47

hackernewds wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who couldn't hit compliance either, any other sleep apnea solutions that have worked for you (or others?) (apologies about derailing into subthread)

Well I broke up with my long term girlfriend and complaints about my sleep apnea stopped. Not sure if this approach is viable for you, but it will solve most peoples’ sleep apnea problem (snoring annoying other people). Other good ideas are to try one of the mouth guards or a new pillow that keeps your head/throat area sort of tight.

>Well I broke up with my long term girlfriend and complaints about my sleep apnea stopped

If we just stop testing people, the number of cases will go down.

If you turn up the radio, that weird noise the car is making will go away.

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#53

Post by alistairSH » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 6:26 PM UTC

GiorgioG wrote: post #27

bluesquared wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commented on this before on HN. I have sleep apnea and a ResMed CPAP. A very US-centric response: Insurance also seems to have access to this data in one way or another (not sure if direct with ResMed or via your doctor). If you don't hit your "compliance target" for treatment, insurance will cease paying 'their share' of the cost. So I found myself in a downward spiral of 0. Struggling to sleep with sleep apnea…

It took me weeks to get used to mine, but I find I do sleep better with it than without my CPAP machine. With respect to insurance, I replaced my original machine without going through insurance. It would have cost me more out of pocket for the doctor visit and on-site sleep study. The state of health “insurance” in this country is mind-boggling. But we continue to vote for politicians that vote against our own best…

We need more than these two f’d up parties.

I've said it in other threads, but these "two f'd up parties" are the expected end result of our electoral system[1]. While we very occasionally see one of the parties replaced with an upstart, the parties eventually return to a similar status quo. Grassroots movements to implement run-off elections, approval voting, or other similar plans are seeing some traction. If you really want to see change, searching for these groups locally (and volunteering or donating) might be worth the effort.

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger%27s_law

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#54

Post by akelly » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 6:42 PM UTC

bheadmaster wrote: post #41

So many smartphones are thrown away in the trash each year. How many chips can be scavenged from them? Perhaps chip shortage will finally put an end to the planned obsolesce of the smartphone industry, and bring some kind of stability to the whole thing.

This is a whole industry in China. There are buildings in Shenzhen with hundreds of vendors selling scavenged storage and memory chips, because those are highly standardized. And discontinued chips from the 80s and 90s are salvaged and sold on ebay and AliExpress so people can repair their old electronics. I've even seen broken laptops get their CPUs desoldered and turned into desktops with custom adapter boards. They're incredibly creative when there's profit to be made.

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#55

Post by kmeisthax » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 6:53 PM UTC

akelly wrote: post #54

bheadmaster wrote: post #41

So many smartphones are thrown away in the trash each year. How many chips can be scavenged from them? Perhaps chip shortage will finally put an end to the planned obsolesce of the smartphone industry, and bring some kind of stability to the whole thing.

This is a whole industry in China. There are buildings in Shenzhen with hundreds of vendors selling scavenged storage and memory chips, because those are highly standardized. And discontinued chips from the 80s and 90s are salvaged and sold on ebay and AliExpress so people can repair their old electronics. I've even seen broken laptops get their CPUs desoldered and turned into desktops with custom adapter boards. The…

Fun fact: this industry also has a habit of fraudulently remarking harvested chips (which are usually fine anyway) to look like brand-new ones. It caused a bit of a minor scandal in the retrocomputing community when this was found out.

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#56

Post by Fiahil » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 7:10 PM UTC

NelsonMinar wrote: post #44

bluesquared wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commented on this before on HN. I have sleep apnea and a ResMed CPAP. A very US-centric response: Insurance also seems to have access to this data in one way or another (not sure if direct with ResMed or via your doctor). If you don't hit your "compliance target" for treatment, insurance will cease paying 'their share' of the cost. So I found myself in a downward spiral of 0. Struggling to sleep with sleep apnea…

I'm so sorry you've gone through this, that sounds miserable. When you feel up for it I hope you can seek treatment again. For context for other readers: the cost of one of these machines is about $800. That's a very small amount of money, often less than a single month's insurance premium. And for that the insurance companies turn medical treatment devices into anxiety-inducing spy machines. It's hideous.

> 800 […] That's a very small amount of money, often less than a single month's insurance premium.

Jesus fucking christ, what the fuck ?! How much does health insurance cost in the US ?

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#57

Post by Melatonic » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 7:16 PM UTC

themanmaran wrote: post #6

> one large industrial conglomerate had resorted to buying washing machines just to scavenge the chips inside them for its products Is this really more efficient than say, contacting the washing machine manufacturer and buying up the chips at a premium (i.e. above the washing machine cost). I usually applaud hacky solutions, but this just feels like a ton of unnecessary waste. I would prefer scrapping features (like…

The problem in these cases is not that you can't buy them at a premium - it is that you cannot buy them at all. What do you do if nobody can supply you the part at any price?

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#58

Post by bluesquared » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

hackernewds wrote: post #33

bluesquared wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commented on this before on HN. I have sleep apnea and a ResMed CPAP. A very US-centric response: Insurance also seems to have access to this data in one way or another (not sure if direct with ResMed or via your doctor). If you don't hit your "compliance target" for treatment, insurance will cease paying 'their share' of the cost. So I found myself in a downward spiral of 0. Struggling to sleep with sleep apnea…

As someone who couldn't hit compliance either, any other sleep apnea solutions that have worked for you (or others?) (apologies about derailing into subthread)

Sorry I can't be more helpful, as I have no good answer. I do have good periods and bad periods.

Though not massively overweight (26.5 BMI), better eating and fitness habits seemed to have helped. Still working on getting to a healthier shape. Depending on the type of apnea, this can help a good deal.

Less electronics/screens in the evening. No more streaming tv/video games until right before bed. Jury's still out on the effects of blue light etc but I really try to limit my electronics to a Kindle (Oasis with the warm color temp feature) before bed.

I admit I didn't try too hard with different masks/setups, that could help. Though I was mostly using one of the most comfortable "nasal pillow" interfaces already.

I will second another commenter's suggestion of a more elevated pillow setup. I use a regular pillow with a buckwheat hull pillow on top. Bad for my neck but I've slept that way for awhile and have adjusted, it's hard to go back to a "more optimal pillow height".

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#59

Post by bluesquared » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 7:26 PM UTC

Fiahil wrote: post #56

NelsonMinar wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so sorry you've gone through this, that sounds miserable. When you feel up for it I hope you can seek treatment again. For context for other readers: the cost of one of these machines is about $800. That's a very small amount of money, often less than a single month's insurance premium. And for that the insurance companies turn medical treatment devices into anxiety-inducing spy machines. It's hideous.

> 800 […] That's a very small amount of money, often less than a single month's insurance premium. Jesus fucking christ, what the fuck ?! How much does health insurance cost in the US ?

I pay ~$500/month for "pretty good" health insurance, and my employer pays roughly the same (a "benefit" that the employer pays 'half'! /s )

And then you have to pay small fees when you go visit a doctor ($25-ish each time), pay for medications (expensive). Emergency room swipes your credit card before a doctor even sees you ($150 co-pay for my plan). Pay thousands for an MRI (that the insurance company has graciously negotiated down 95%!)

Re: Companies are hacking their way around the chip shortage

#60

Post by bluesquared » Mon, Sep 12, 2022, 7:28 PM UTC

NelsonMinar wrote: post #44

bluesquared wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commented on this before on HN. I have sleep apnea and a ResMed CPAP. A very US-centric response: Insurance also seems to have access to this data in one way or another (not sure if direct with ResMed or via your doctor). If you don't hit your "compliance target" for treatment, insurance will cease paying 'their share' of the cost. So I found myself in a downward spiral of 0. Struggling to sleep with sleep apnea…

I'm so sorry you've gone through this, that sounds miserable. When you feel up for it I hope you can seek treatment again. For context for other readers: the cost of one of these machines is about $800. That's a very small amount of money, often less than a single month's insurance premium. And for that the insurance companies turn medical treatment devices into anxiety-inducing spy machines. It's hideous.

I have been having enough difficulty I've actually tried to restart in recent times. Vicious cycle of allergies and sleep deprivation make it hard to continue certain times of the year.

It was a lesson to be learned, I was unaware when starting treatment that you could buy one outright. Being a 60601 medical device I thought I had to just go along for the ride...