"We don't make that kind of glass," said Waguih Ishak, director of Corning Inc.'s West Coast Research Center, pointing to the windows lining his office and, beyond that, to the windshields of the cars parked outside.
"That is very thick glass, where impurities and small defects don't really matter. At Corning, we make electronic-grade glass." Ishak knows that to the layman, this doesn't mean much. Glass is glass. You can see through it, it keeps things out, and it breaks.
What more could Corning's lab in Palo Alto do besides make it a little thinner, a little smoother and a little clearer? Ishak smiled. His face was friendly, but the knowing look in his eyes was clear: You have no idea.