As a physicist, I really want to argue with that statement.
In particular, computer hardware operates (by design) as far as possible from any regimes where the laws of physics are well and truly complicated. A tokamak fusion reactor, by contrast, although it breaks down into orders of magnitude fewer logical parts, contains a big blob of monolithic, continuous complexity, namely the plasma itself and all its associated electromagnetic fields, which you CS types sell short. :p
Isn't the physics of CPU design (quantum tunneling etc) just as complicated as that of a fusion reactor (or arguably more so?)
If you meant that the behavior of the plasma itself is complex from the mathematical point of view.. yes, that is true. But it _is_ modeled (along with nuclear explosions) on one of those computer thing you physics type sell short. :P
Oh, solid state physics is plenty complicated. But in the regime where computers operate, you can successfully model the chip as a bunch of discrete signals and NAND gates and shit (ignorance showing through here).
And, yes, I swept computational physics under the rug. Ironic, really, because that's my niche.
In particular, computer hardware operates (by design) as far as possible from any regimes where the laws of physics are well and truly complicated. A tokamak fusion reactor, by contrast, although it breaks down into orders of magnitude fewer logical parts, contains a big blob of monolithic, continuous complexity, namely the plasma itself and all its associated electromagnetic fields, which you CS types sell short. :p