It is December again. The year has gone by so fast. Where did all the time go?
So I think we should spend some time and look back at the Asianometry channel in 2023.
Popular videos. Videos I thought would be more popular. And big themes I noticed throughout the year.
The Year's Videos
I went into 2023 with a few things in mind, I wanted to maintain a good proportion of semiconductor videos but also explore other technology topics like computers.
The year's top videos were "How China Got the Bomb", "How Semiconductors Ruined East Germany", the Crony Capitalism in Indonesia video, and "That Time the Soviets Abolished Money".
Bonus points to the YKK video, which got a shoutout by Lupe Fiasco, who made one of my favorite songs.
I notice that there was a strong focus on the Soviet Union for last year's videos. I don't know if it is because of current events, or just because the Soviet topics I chose were more "intriguing" than some of the others.
2023 also marks the first video I did about South America, namely the Brazilian computer. I was not sure how it was going to do, but am glad to see that some people liked it. You might see a few more South American videos coming out in the future.
Two of my favorite videos came out this year. One was the copper interconnect video, "TSMC's First Breakthrough", which covered the momentous move to copper interconnects, as well as the 130 nanometer node which TSMC first brought to market.
Another was the "Rise and Sad Fall of Wang Labs". I can remember myself working on this video, sitting in a cafe in Taichung, when it occurred to me that this one was going to be special. The story of An Wang, who is basically forgotten today, is inspiring and should be told more widely.
To be honest, I am still not sure how a video does when I release it. In the end, I am just still doing the same thing. Focusing on what things happen to interest me. I did every video because I enjoyed the topic, so in reality all of these are my favorites.
These Should be More Popular
I did a few videos in 2023 that I thought should have done better. This video won't do as well as any of the others, but I hope at least I can highlight a few of them.
"Silicon Shrank the Hearing Aid", I felt was one of my personal favorites. Many of the people I know wear hearing aids, and I think they are a fascinating technology. The first transistorized electronic product was a hearing aid, and they have always been at the leading edge of miniaturization tech.
"Shaw Brothers: King of Hong Kong Cinema", was a rare story about Chinese entertainment - starting from the mainland to Hong Kong to Singapore. And though this one did not do very well on the view-count basis, it got a lot of responses from Chinese-Americans youths and elders who watched their movies growing up.
And the story of National Semiconductor, where my father used to work. That one did quite poorly and I do wish more people knew about it. National Semiconductor used to be a giant in the industry, and analog remains a critical part of semis.
And of course, the Etch video. A lot of people care about lithography because it's seemingly the sexiest part of the semiconductor manufacturing process. But they call it litho-etch for a reason. You are missing 50% of the duo, if you just care about litho!
People I Talked To
Again this year as with the last two years, I tried my best to meet as many people one on one.
It is a lonely thing, YouTube, and meetings help me learn about who you guys (and 95% of you are indeed guys) are. And of course, I want to learn from your experiences as well.
I want to call out just a few of my notable meetings and sharings. (If I met you and didn’t mention it, then sorry about that, I still remember it!) Like the Microsoft AI researcher who marveled about GPT-4 with me;
Or the analog chip startup guys from Silicon Valley who patiently explained analog design to me;
Or the Los Alamos researcher who helped me understand just how popular Prime Minister Modi is within India. Thank you all for taking the time.
I still encourage you to reach out to me if you find yourself in Taipei. But do try to give me a longer heads up and also introduce yourself so I can get a sense of who you are.
Events
Asianometry did some events this year for the first time.
The first one was in Tokyo, during my trip there in February. It was held in a small conference room offered by a kind viewer.
After that, I did another event in May in Taipei when Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis visited. It was one of the first times that I set something up within Taiwan itself, and I had a blast.
And of course, the last big one of the year was the September 2023 AI and Semiconductor symposium, which we held before the big SEMICON East 2023 show. That was huge and I did a recap video on it.
I had a great time with all of these events. I was able to meet some great people. And though I was on edge the whole time, it ended up okay. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to come and encourage you to come to the next one - whenever it should happen.
Travels
In 2021 and 2022, I largely stayed at home due to COVID restrictions and what not.
But in 2023 things opened up, and so I took the opportunity to go traveling around a bit. I got to visit Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the United States (for a bit).
In Korea, I had the chance to take a "train to Busan" as they say. Stayed in a hotel near the ocean and got to visit their local aquarium. Also ate some of that famous Korean barbecue.
When people in Korea found out that I was the "Taiwan semiconductor" guy, I was bemused by their consistent asking - "How can Samsung catch up?" The answer of course, is that Samsung is diversified, and few companies are as intensely focused as TSMC is.
In Thailand, I ate mangoes and did massages. I am baffled by Bangkok's insane street layout, but also impressed by their incredible malls and the wonderfully kind people. I have not done a Thailand video in a while, but I hope to soon.
I try not to do that much traveling, since I have work to do and videos to make. But I do enjoy it. And I hope in 2024, I can make time to perhaps come to your country as well.
Conclusion
As with before, I want to thank you all for taking the time to watch the videos.
Looking back on 2023, I marvel at how fast time passed. I look at each video and can remember where I was and what I was doing when I was making them.
Personally, I am feeling better. I am still working and stressed and doing all I can to keep up. But so far I am handling it okay. I hope I can continue this as we go into 2024.
I have some great ideas that I want to work on for the coming year. I hope you will enjoy them along with me. Every day, I am still amazed that I get to do this and that people care for it. Take care and I will see you next time.