Re: colonial weapons

[Mike]	Well, there have been a lot of advances recently in microchip 
lithography. And some similar advances in making chip substrates could 
give you a very nice desktop chip fab in less than 100 years. It's be 
handy for small shops.

The problem for the colony is, of course, that the DTLitho machines 
can't be made locally. And a colony can't support too many electrical 
engineers, or the infrastructure to train them (labs, not libraries).

Forget the chicken-and-egg problem, what makes the machines ?

Tomb wrote:

>Ryan said:
>I have a new iBook. I could take that iBook with me to Afganistan. I 
>could not find parts or a full replacement unit in Afganistan. I 
>could not make those parts there either. I could take my 1941 Lithgow 
>Enfield Rifle there and get a local with some simple machine tools to 
>make a new trigger spring or turn out a new firing pin. Thats the 
>difference.
>
>[Tomb] Correct. Now assume we deploy our early laser rifles by 2015. It
>is now 2183. Your "new iBook" analogy fails because by this time the
>laser rifle IS the Lithgow Enfield (actually, not the original laser
>rifle, but a laser rifle refined for a further 120 years!). Now, if you
>were to say "grav rifle" (or some other New-to-the-GZGverse tech), I'd
>agree. 
>
>Tomb. 
>
>