Digital vs Analog
When you think of the term “digital” or our digits, the first thing that usually comes to mind is technology. Things like computers, phones, and cameras. As I read Doug Eyman’s “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric”, he gives us a deeper understanding of what digital means by comparing analog technologies and digital technologies. Analog technologies are based on similarities, proportions, and resemblance. It represents waves.
Digital technologies are based on coded differences rather than proportion or similarities. Within the context of computer systems and networks, digital also refers to the encoding of information in binary bits. Although “digital” is more secure and can be replicated, they go better hand in hand when it comes to rhetoric. It is also important to note that “digital” connects to the material production of texts, both in print form or electronic.
Our Digits
Angela Haas mentions that “digital” also refers to our fingers, or our digits. It is one of the primary ways through which we make sense of the world and write into the world. “All writing is digital: digitalis in Latin, means of or relating to fingers or toes or a coding of information” (pg. 19). Everything in a sense is digital. She argues that historical forms of written communication that were executed with the use of fingers and codes constitute the first artifacts of scientific and technological development. I never thought that fingers could be listed as “digital” but it makes sense because it is a way to communicate. For example, drawings/symbols or morse code.
Past vs Present
We should also take into consideration the way we wrote in the past and the way we write now. When I was in elementary school, everything was in pencil and on paper. My folder was practically falling apart by the end of the year due to how many papers were in there. By the time I hit middle school we started to make the transition from paper to computers. All work was done and submitted electronically. And although that sounds ideal because we’re saving trees, that does not mean it did not come with technical difficulties. Websites being down, certain tools not being able to function properly, things not submitting, etc. which can be a real hassle when you’re trying to get something done.
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