>Helmi rubbed their temples as they examined the empty shelves in the electronics stockroom. Critical components for Santa’s high-tech sleigh and workshop had been delayed—again. The issue wasn’t just supply chain hiccups; it was a deeper problem. Modern CMOS chips, with their impossibly small nodal sizes, were all sourced from far-off factories in the Far East. With global tensions and logistical chaos, this dependence felt like a ticking time bomb.

Helmi leaned against the workbench, pondering the way forward. “We need independence,” they murmured, sketching circuits in their notebook. The answer wasn’t in chasing Moore’s Law but stepping away from it. Bigger nodal sizes could be produced locally, right at the North Pole’s fab. While they might seem less advanced, Helmi knew the secret: clever design. Analog circuits could extract incredible performance from simpler structures, bypassing the need for extreme miniaturization.

By evening, Helmi had a working prototype of a robust, efficient processor using locally sourced components. They held it up, its simplicity gleaming in the workshop lights. “No more waiting on distant ships,” they declared. “Analog gives us the power to control our own destiny—and deliver Christmas on time.”