ASML's Best Selling Product Isn't What You Think It Is(siliconimist.com) |
ASML's Best Selling Product Isn't What You Think It Is(siliconimist.com) |
I'd say play is of fundamental importance at the bleeding edge of knowledge and technology. Without play, there's no appetite for failure. Without appetite for failure, there's no progress, no novel solutions, no creativity.
> The answer that came to me again and again was play. Every human society in recorded history has games. We don’t just solve problems out of necessity. We do it for fun. Even as adults. Leave a human being alone with a knotted rope and they will unravel it. Leave a human being alone with blocks and they will build something. Games are part of what makes us human. We see the world as a mystery, a puzzle, because we've always been a species of problem-solvers.
https://taloswiki.org/images/3/36/Scientist-02_ProblemSolver...
Unless you need the box, you can get the instructions online (https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-215601/NightHawk11991/asml-...). Though that might be a recreation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiUHjLxm3V0
For more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_ultraviolet_lithograph...
(There's something incredible and downright "alchemical" about the fact that the reason our sand can "think" is because we use light to vaporize tin which then carves intricate glyphs into the sand!)
Wonder if they include this lego set as a gift with their real machines? Or are they like – our commercial agreement is worth $400M and not a lego set above that.
https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/q4-2025-fin...
2) For once, I had a good laugh from the obvious clickbait title. Hat tip. You nerd sniped me good!
3) What do you think ASML had to pay Lego to design and create this model? Or maybe Lego has a small division that does custom models like this? Do we know the employee cost for the Lego set? I have not access to this company store link: https://asmlstore.com/products/twinscan-exe-5000-lego-set
4) How long until someone on YouTube creates a functioning lithography tool (say, 1 million nanometers grade) using only authetic Lego materials?
I've done my own small scale version of this where I made models for internal distribution of the specialty equipment my employer uses. I doubt they paid Lego anything.
There is software to design your own lego set. Bricklink Studio is what I used. It's essentially Lego CAD software with a component library of Lego pieces. You can do high quality renderings, generate instruction sheets and BOMs.
Lego has a Pick-a-brick service where you can get new parts from a very limited selection at great expense. At third party marketplaces like Bricklink you can upload BOMs and they will assemble shopping carts from different seller's inventories of used pieces. Price and selection is better than Pick-a-brick but shipping / order fees / minimum lot size drive up the cost. I've tried many times but even the smallest 200 piece build ends up needing orders from 3 sellers across the world. There's always some part that was only ever sold in one rare set from 30 years ago and is unobtanium (the CAD program makes it easy to include a piece regardless of actual availability).
There are also businesses that will give you a turn key product that looks very retail-like with parts bagged by step, printed instructions, real Legos, box art, etc.
If you're willing to go with "lego compatible" third party bricks like GoBricks there are many sites that can source your entire build at once with new non-lego pieces. Part quality ranges from "good enough" to "indistinguishable" and the price and ease of ordering is loads better. You get a box of unsorted parts and spend lots of time grouping the pieces into kits.
No it doesn't.
And the only thing it does again, to remind me, that this is cool as hell but i'm not able to buy it...
But really: "Why does this matter?" When looking at an article like this, I rarely read the text. This is just fluff no matter if AI-generated or hand written. The info is "there's a LEGO set of that ASML machine" and the picture of that set. That's all I want to know before clicking the back button.
> But right now, the most coveted product coming out of ASML is the 1,000-piece Lego version.
I thought it might be something like service contracts or chemical refills.
You'll need to be their very best friend. And make sure they're not too close with their family, nor a big fan of either Lego or collectables, before you cozy up.
The "Color" (ie: type/what's being sold) is "PDF Manual By Email", so it's possible they selling just the PDF assembly manual...
Because of course it is.