Companies are buying washing machines to take the chips out and repurpose them
I doubt this is true, because modern electronics are so highly integrated that it would be quite difficult to remove the SMD, or possibly BGA CPU&#x2F;SOC, and particularly in a washing machine it would be encased in silicone or some other waterproofing.<p>I&#x27;m not sure why more-modular electronics are not more of a thing.<p>For example, blue-pill STM boards are very cheap, because they are produced in millions.  Similarly for many other modules.<p>How is it cheaper to design and produce a relatively limited run of integrated, custom washing machine control electronics, instead of a simple &#x27;baseboard&#x27; and a bunch of really-really-mass-produced modules?<p>The later modular design would be a boon for legibility, repairability, re-usability, supply-chain resilience, etc, etc.