Baby Tape-out

In our biz, "tape-out" is the term used to describe the last step in the design phase of a product. It comes from the old days when a datatape was created of the design of a chip. The next step is to run that design over to the mask house -- the factory -- and start building silicon. It's the key point when logical structures are made to exist in the physical world.

Because there are so many different teams working on so many different things, we are under a constant bombardment of weekly reports, released on different days depending on which manager needs them when, forwarded on different days yet. If one chooses to read them, one can be apprised of roughly what's going on in the broader organization.

Someone's wife is expecting, so a weekly report that just came through says "Baby tape-out expected" for whomever, in bold blue type, with the usual best of luck attached.

"Baby tape-out." YUCK! This is high-tech cuteness gone too far. Or maybe it's just me, but my first image is of a newborn infested with tapeworms. I don't need that image! So here's a picture of my cat.