One Digital Day (Hardcover)

Produced by Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt

Foreword by Andrew S. Grove, Chairman and CEO, Intel Corporation
Essays by Michael S. Malone

To be published by Times Books in June 1998

No invention in history has spread so quickly throughout the world, or revolutionized so many aspects of human existence, as the microchip. Little more than a quarter century since its invention, there are now nearly 15 billion microchips in use worldwide -- the equivalent of two powerful computers for every man, woman, and child on the planet. The microprocessor is not only changing the products we use, but also the way we live, and, ultimately, the way we perceive reality.

ONE DIGITAL DAY (Times Books/June 1, 1998) is the result of a unique project designed to make people aware of the thousands of microprocessors we unknowingly encounter every day. Rick Smolan, creator of the award-winning Day in the Life photography books and the bestseller 24 Hours in Cyberspace, sent 100 of the worlds most talented photojournalists around the globe on July 11, 1997. Their mission: to depict intimate and emotional stories of how this tiny chip -- a square of silicon the size of afingernail, weighing less than a postage stamp -- has transformed our human culture forever.

The book features more than 200 compelling photographs, taken on that single day, revealing a world that only science-fiction writers once dared envision. Thanks to microchips, it is a world where science, entertainment, business, health, sports, education, and countless other fields are progressing faster than we can imagine.

How pervasive is the microchip? If you took the microchips out of every application in which they are now used, the results would be stunning and frightening. Microwave ovens, dishwashers, and many other kitchen appliances would stop working!. Televisions and VCRs would fade to black; stereos would grow mute; and most clocks would stop. Cars wouldnt start, and airplanes would be unable to leave the ground. The phone system would go dead, as would most streetlights, thermostats, and, of course, a half-billion computers. And these are only the most obvious applications.

Every factory in the industrial world would also shut down, as would the electrical grid, stock exchanges, and the global banking system. Pacemakers would stop, too, as would surgical equipment and fetal monitoring systems in obstetrics wards.

This infinite variety of applications is vividly illustrated by the images captured last July for ONE DIGITAL DAY. A brief sample of what the hundred photographers came back with:

Johannesburg, South Africa -- Once on the verge of extinction, cheetahs at the DeWildt Center are implanted with microchips that contain genetic information. This information, read by a scanner, is crucial to the center's efforts to build up the world population, because in-breeding is a big threat to the genetic strength of the cats. (Photo: Mark Peters)

Hollywood, California -- The Jurassic Park River Adventure roller
coaster is a completely automated ride which was designed with the help
of paleontologists and robotics engineers, at a cost of $100 million.
This completely automated ride includes "animatronic" dinosaurs which
roar, lunge and even spit at riders in passing boats. (Photo: Dana
Fineman-Appel)

Bury, England -- Ida Schofield, a 69-year-old grandmother, had never
touched a computer or thought she had any need for one until she
volunteered as a guinea pig for a state-of-the-art desktop system, with
video-conferencing. She now uses it to communicate with family members
around the world. (Photo: Michael Freeman)

Lacey, Washington -- Sprinter Tony Volpentest, born with no hands or
feet and only partially formed arms and legs!, uses ultra-light
artificial feet designed with the help of sophisticated computer
modeling programs. He now runs the 100-meter dash only 1.5 seconds
slower than the world record holder.(Photo: Natalie Fobes)

Singapore -- The foul-smelling but delicious tropical fruit known as
durian is adored throughout Asia, but devotees dread carrying it home
in their cars or keeping it around the house. Now connoisseurs of the
odoriferous delicacy can order it online from 717 Trading Company and
have it delivered just when theyre ready to eat it. Since 717 launced
its Web site in early 1996, about 20 percent of its sales have come
from customers shopping online. (Photo: R. Ian Lloyd)

Fort Bragg, NC and Sarajevo, Bosnia -- U.S. Army Lieutenant Frank
Holmes, stationed 5,000 miles from home in Bosnia, gets his first look
at his six-week-old daughter, Morgan, by using a pc-based
videoconferencing system. The smooth images that reunited Frank,
Morgan, and mom Andrea ran over normal phone lines between computers
running ProShare Technology. Franks commanding officer notes that
videoconferencing is the single greatest morale boost for my troops in
a long time. (Photos: Lori Grinker and Cindy Burnham)

As Andrew S. Grove, Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation, writes in his foreword, As you turn these pages, youll see a world being reshaped by technology in ways previously unthinkable. ONE DIGITAL DAY makes it fascinatingly clear that there is no place on, above, or below the earth, that the microprocessor hasnt touched.