The why of tech
The why of tech
If you read last week's column, you found out why there is so much fuss about digital; because simple computers can put a whole chain of record stores out of business, for example, or force AT&T to seriously restructure the way it offers phone service. Zeros and ones
add up to a revolutionThe magic behind this accomplishment can largely be attributed to binary code. In essence, binary code turns analog information (sound and light waves, for example) into zeros and ones -- a form so simple it is virtually impossible to confuse, thereby eliminating distortion, static or any of the other kinds of degradation that constantly affect audiocassettes or television reception.
Digital information is broken down into bits. A bit is the simplest form of information. It represents two choices, the zero and one. In the case of color it would be, quite literally, black or white.
In order to have more color choices, all one has to do is string together more bits. For example, in order to get burgundy, one might want to offer 256 shades of red -- one of which is bound to be the right one. In order to have 256 choices, you would need a string of 8 bits (2 choices, 8 times = 256). Burgundy might be 00011001.
To bring it to the next level, pretend this color is part of a digital photograph. The photograph would be broken into pixels, which represent a single portion of the image. The more pixels, the bigger the image, the better the detail. The digital image would consist of a string of these 8-bit sequences that painted the picture from left to right, top to bottom, pixel by pixel. The first four pixels might look like 00011001 10010011 10010001 00011111 and on and on.
The beauty of this system is it leaves no room for interpretation or mistakes. Therefore the equipment that uses it can be very cheap. It just needs to be smart enough to differentiate a one from a zero, and nothing more. No need for extremely expensive equipment that can keep sound/voice quality along the way. Further, there is no way to degrade it; zeros and ones cannot be damaged or worn out, as magnetic patterns on a cassette can.
And the best part is, the same equipment can be used to manipulate, store and transmit ANY kind of information that can be digitized, meaning the same computer that replaced the record industry can as easily replace the need for photo processing chemicals, and messengers that ferry Star Bulletin photos around town.
Steve Jefferson is a Honolulu-based freelance writer
and section editor for InfoWorld. He can be
reached at: stevej@lava.net