Spillovers from Oil Firms to US Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing: Smudging State-Industry Distinctions and Retelling Conventional Narratives

C.C.M. Mody*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Histories of semiconductor and computing technology in the United States have emphasized the supporting role of the U.S. state, especially the military, in answer to libertarian denials of state aid that are influential in Silicon Valley today. Somewhat implicit in that historiography, though, is the leading role of actors and organizations that blur any distinction between public and private. Some industries of this sort-telecommunications, aerospace, auto manufacturing-do figure in the historiography, but the class should be expanded further. One such industry-oil-has been exceptionally but almost invisibly influential in the development of computing and semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Oil firms invested heavily in semiconductors and computing. There was also an "oil spillover" of personnel and technology from oil firms to computing and semiconductor manufacturing. Oil shows up in the biographies of many prominent individuals and organizations in the history of those technologies, from Fairchild Semiconductor to Edsger Dijkstra. These ties potentially hold important implications for the much-needed transition to a more sustainable energy regime.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1467222722000064
Pages (from-to)676-701
Number of pages26
JournalEnterprise & Society
Volume24
Issue number3
Early online date22 Feb 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023

Keywords

  • BECAME
  • BUSINESS
  • CRISIS
  • GOVERNANCE
  • HISTORY
  • INNOVATION
  • MOVEMENT
  • R&D
  • RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT
  • SILICON VALLEY
  • SYSTEMS
  • US 20th
  • information technology
  • oil

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