Silicon Eye: Microchip Swashbucklers and the Future of High-Tech Innovation

Technology insider George Gilder delivers a "compelling" (Wired) look under the hood at a genius-fueled startup. Thanks to the digital technology revolution, cameras are everywhere―PDAs, phones, anywhere you can put an imaging chip and a lens. Battling to usurp this two-billion-dollar market is a Silicon Valley company, Foveon, whose technology not only produces a superior image but also may become the eye in artificially intelligent machines. Behind Foveon are two legendary figures who made the personal computer possible: Carver Mead of Caltech, one of the founding fathers of information technology, and Federico Faggin, inventor of the CPU―the chip that runs every computer. George Gilder has covered the wizards of high tech for twenty-five years and has an insider's knowledge of Silicon Valley and the unpredictable mix of genius, drive, and luck that can turn a startup into a Fortune 500 company. The Silicon Eye is a rollicking narrative of some of the smartest―and most colorful―people on earth and their race to transform an entire industry. 13 illustrations