Is my fridge digital?
One misconception about the word digital is that it solely refers to computers and the internet. With this being said, in most use cases, they would be just about spot on. However, if we are to be a bit more technical, as Eyman stated, any system made up of individual elements satisfies the technical definition, even things like Morse code and the Braille alphabet.
Why digital?
In the modern world, it is not uncommon to prefer digital methods of communication and information display. This may be due to perceived accuracy or accessibility. Oftentimes, people don’t really give the topic much thought to this matter to begin with. Many people subscribe to the notion that digital = new, and newer = better. This idea, however, is inherently flawed. Believe it or not, the first digital computer appeared in 1948, far from what most would consider “new”.
Digital vs. Analog
The example that Professor Friend used in class really made me ponder the distinction between analog and digital. He stated that by only looking at the hour hand on a clock, you were able to tell the complete time, a fact in and of itself rather obvious. Most people know you need the minute and second hand to get an accurate time reading. With this being said, I had not really considered the idea of balancing ease and convenience of just the hour hand versus the accuracy of all three before. Although in a real-world application, the actual difference in time would not be much, it is undeniably true that I can tell the time faster by just a quick glance at the clock, seeing the hour hand halfway between 7 and 8, letting me know it;s about 7:30, rather than looking for the minute and second hand to tell me that it is exactly 7:32:16. This draws a parallel to digital clocks since they also sacrifice accuracy (second hand) for convenience.
In conclusion, I believe there’s still a place in our society for analog and digital forms of media. Additionally, it’s essential to understand the differences between the two, including determining which medium is more suitable for specific tasks in our daily lives.
Referenced Reading: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/166/oa_monograph/book/40755/pdf
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