ASML's Best Selling Product Isn't What You Think It Is

(siliconimist.com)

86 points | by johncole 2 hours ago

9 comments

  • cassianoleal 1 hour ago
    > Even at the absolute bleeding edge of human physics, we still have a fundamental desire to play.

    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.

  • voidUpdate 1 hour ago
    I'm not particularly surprised that the $600 Lego set sells better than the $400 million lithography tool...
    • mrweasel 1 hour ago
      It's $200, otherwise I think it would be a bit on the high end in terms of price per piece. $600 is the cheapest version on eBay.

      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.

      • voidUpdate 1 hour ago
        (I couldn't see a listed price in the article, so I just went for the cheapest resale price they said. Thanks for clarifying)
  • nikitaga 1 hour ago
    > Employee Only: You cannot buy these in stores. They are sold exclusively to ASML employees with a strictly enforced “one per person” rule.

    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.

  • AntiUSAbah 44 minutes ago
    "Why it matters"

    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...

  • nottorp 1 hour ago
    When I saw the title I thought it would be some plushie. Turns out I wasn't far from the truth!
    • behohippy 1 hour ago
      You might have a business idea there. I wouldn't mind a twinscan plushie for sitting on top of the workstation.
    • johncole 1 hour ago
      Spot on!
  • j_maffe 8 minutes ago
    Can we please do something about these AI slop articles? It's becoming really sadenning having to open a frontpage link only to find the same, meritless, braindead article one time after the other.
    • planb 1 minute ago
      You're absolutely right! "Why Does This Matter?" was a dead giveaway that this article was not written by a human — it was written by a large language model.

      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.

  • bux93 15 minutes ago
    Two words. Volkswagen sausage.
  • afandian 1 hour ago
    Saved you a click:

    > 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.

    • newsclues 1 hour ago
      And it's not available to the public. Bummer.
      • cassianoleal 1 hour ago
        • haddonist 1 hour ago
          Might be worth contacting the seller before buying.

          The "Color" (ie: type/what's being sold) is "PDF Manual By Email", so it's possible they selling just the PDF assembly manual...

        • loudmax 1 hour ago
          The Chinese knock-off TwinScan is almost as good as the original and far less expensive.

          Because of course it is.

        • johncole 1 hour ago
          Brilliant. I knew there had to be a solution somewhere.
      • doe88 1 hour ago
        It must be to prevent corporate spying ;)
      • johncole 1 hour ago
        Find a friend that works at ASML?
        • bell-cot 1 hour ago
          > ... sold exclusively to ASML employees with a strictly enforced “one per person” rule.

          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.

  • 2ndorderthought 1 hour ago
    "why does this matter?" Oh hello AI slop how are you today?
    • johncole 59 minutes ago
      Is this some sort of ai indicator now?
      • masfuerte 11 minutes ago
        Any of these things on their own do not indicate AI but this articled is riddled with tells, including this one.
      • skrebbel 57 minutes ago
        Yep
    • amelius 50 minutes ago
      Maybe. At some point, humans will start sounding like AI.
      • mschuster91 11 minutes ago
        They already do, I recently heard people literally talk like tiktok videos in real life...
    • markovBaj 57 minutes ago
      for me it was the 3 bullet point list, esp. the "The Sales Gap"