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From: eugene@ames-pioneer.arpa (Eugene Miya N.)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Environmentally safe computers?
Message-ID: <2249@hplabsc.HP.COM>
Date: Tue, 21-Jul-87 17:57:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.2249
Posted: Tue Jul 21 17:57:17 1987
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Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
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Approved: taylor@hplabs

> I've been hearing more and more criticism of the purported benefits of the
> "computer revolution" lately from those who point out that the electronics
> industry, despite a lot of claims to the contrary, is a very dirty one.

There are some trade-offs, but it takes pioneering to discover what
those tradeoffs are, and I am not certain many companies check out all
tradeoffs in manufacturing.  Especially in economically competitive
markets.

One thing to point out when I was working for a thin-film lab.  The
basic ingredients of SiO2, Cu, and Gold are not the big problems, the
problems are the tools used to work with them: Gold is chemically
difficult stuff to work with and Aqua Regina is very hazardous stuff
(recalling the lecture we were given to handle it).  HF to etch glass is
also pretty dangerous.  {So we can't argue that optical computing will
be `cleaner' for instance.}  So it is frequently the tools which are the
problem, many are irreplaceable.  This problem also promises to get
worse as we work with more and more difficult compounds: GaAs, some of
the rare earths. (major point)  And the lead (not Pb) times to detection
are long and the materials effects are not well understood.  The
quantities, however, are probably smaller than the petro-chemical industry
(growing up not to far from where Dow Chemical made naplam in the
1960s).  Ask this question again in 2020.

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center