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this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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unix_surrealism
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This is how my Dad feels after designing switches for smartphones. He's always proud to say that there's likely a piece of technology in your hand that he's designed, but he also hates phones.
FUCK AUTO CORRECT
Like data switches or the physical buttons?
It's on the chips. It's similar to a data switch, but on a waaaaaaay smaller scale. If you have an Android device, it's in there.
We've argued about this a lot. He doesn't like to call them that.
I have half of an idea as to what I'm talking about, I am NOT an electrical engineer.
The term "electronic switch" is so old. He doesn't like to use it anymore. Saying "data" helps specify what you're talking about, but it's a misnomer because the switch may serve another function. It's a whole thing, man.
Gonna guess this is related to what he's talking about: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shift_register
They actually move bits of data in and out of the CPU/ram once per 'tick' of the system-wide clock, which is usually ticking in the GHz range.
Software will handle decisions on what bits/bytes to move where, the registers are where data is electronically modified, the shifters actually move the bytes in and out.
I think it’s even simpler than that
it’s ram
here is some ee 100 stuff not looked at the whole thing
www.cs.emory.edu/~cheung/Courses/255/Syllabus/4-intro/SLIDES/s10a.html
there’s probably a youtube video with a guy from India that’ll do it better
ewww ran into ai slop on youtube instead
this is decent
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gvh5c6/eli5_is_there_really_a_tiny_switch_for_every_bit/
Without more details, it's hard to know.
But I'd guess his dad would've simply said "ram" or "memory", something everyone is at least mildly familiar with, vs the more specific phrasing, "similar to a data switch but on a way smaller scale".
It's on the chips. It's similar to a data switch, but on a waaaaaaay smaller scale.
We've argued about this a lot. He doesn't like to call them that. The term "electronic switch" is so old.
this makes it pretty clear
he’s explaining the function to someone that he thinks is hardware illiterate
also if he’s really specialized it may literally be the ‘switch’ part
Disagree, but we'll have to ask @[email protected] 😎
There can be only one!
~Here we are…
I work in automotive manufacturing, but am very anti-car. similar idea.
yes, your big ass bronco has parts on it that were put together by tooling I designed. and I think you're an asshole for driving it around the city after dark, with your giant box blocking my vision, blind spots blocking yours, and LED headlights blinding everybody