This is a pretty great piece of work, making high tech cheaper: a scientist who was strapped for cash found a way to do make chips with microscopic fluid channels, using shrinky dinks instead of expensive equipment.
The combination of the ability to print from a computer onto plastic, and then to shrink the plastic with heat, allows the creation of molds to create the tiny channels.
Yeah, the economics angle of the Merchant Clan series really sets it apart from Zelazny's Amber, which was much more focused on the idea of mythic archetypes. The worldwalking aspect and the use of the patterns to trigger jumps to specific locations is the only bit that jumps out to me as a strong similarity.
ReplyDeleteI hate that they end on such cliffhangers, though.
Wait, what? How did I end up on THIS blog post. I clicked on the Stross one. Really, I did. Honest.
ReplyDeleteThe Shrinky Dink thing is just out of my wheelhouse.