How Taiwan rose to global prominence in high tech manufacturing, from computer maker to the world's leading chip manufacturer.
How Taiwan rose to global prominence in high tech manufacturing, from computer maker to the world's leading chip manufacturer.
How did Taiwan, a former Japanese colony and the last fortress of the defeated Chinese Nationalists, ascend to such heights in high-tech manufacturing? In Island Tinkerers, Honghong Tinn tells the critical history of how hobbyists and enthusiasts in Taiwan, including engineers, technologists, technocrats, computer users, and engineers-turned-entrepreneurs, helped transform the country with their hands-on engagement with computers. Rather than engaging in wholesale imitation of US sources, she explains, these technologists tinkered with imported computing technology and experimented with manufacturing their own versions, resulting in their own brand of successful innovation.
Defying the stereotype of ""the West innovates, and the East imitates,"" Tinn tells the story of Taiwanese technologists' efforts over the past six decades. Beginning in the 1960s, they grappled with the ""black-boxed"" computers that were newly available through international technical-aid programs. Shortly after, multinational corporations that outsourced transistor and integrated circuit assembly overseas began employing Taiwanese engineers and factory workers.
Island tinkerers developed strategies to adapt, modify, assemble, and work with computers in an inventive manner. It was through this creative and ingenious tinkering with computers that they were able to gain a better understanding of the technology, opening the door to future manufacturing endeavors that now include Acer, Foxconn, Asus, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
By:
Honghong Tinn
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 178mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780262549387
ISBN 10: 0262549387
Pages: 456
Publication Date: 11 February 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I Embracing Electronics, 1950s 1 Network Reset: Restoring a University for Engineering 2 Negotiating Technical Aid: “Immediate and Direct” Results of Science and Engineering Education Part II Emulating Humming Machines, 1960s 3 Tinkering with a Technological System: Mainframe Computers from Afar 4 Grappling with Machines: Late Adoption of Computers in Taiwan’s Military Alliance with the United States 5 Manufacturing Hope: Explorations in Making Minicomputers and Calculators from Scratch Part III Technology Inscribed, 1970s–1990s 6 Assembling Electronics: Women’s Memories, Men’s Factories 7 Mass-producing Calculators: Solderers, Engineers, and Entrepreneurs 8 Incompatible Computer Dreams: Contested Computer Exports to the United States 9 The Republic of Computers: From Scoundrels to Asian Heroes 10 TSMC and the New Geopolitics of the 21st Century Epilogue Abbreviations Glossary of Selected Chinese Names Appendix: Archives and Other Collections Notes Bibliography List of Figures Index
Honghong Tinn is Assistant Professor in the Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Reviews for Island Tinkerers: Innovation and Transformation in the Making of Taiwan’s Computing Industry
“Engrossing and meticulously researched.” —Taipei Times
