Think to yourself the last day you went without using something digital. It is almost impossible. You wake to an alarm on your phone, you get the weather and daily news using your tv, you grab food from your fancy digital fridge. I mean even some toothbrushes are digital. Its no secret that the entire world is going digital, and for good reason. Things being digital are convenient as heck.

In my Digital Revolution class, we learned of three major advantages to things being digital. Digital computers are exact, repeatable, and robust to noise, but what do all these things mean? For a digital computer to be exact, that means it uses precise mathematical rules when operating. For example, the user inputs a specific instruction that can be computed with reliable calculations and consistency. The exactness is what allows us to rely on the information in which the computer produces. Repeatability on the other hand, lets us trust what is actually being computed. When a user inputs a the same function, recognize and repeat itself allows us to trust the system. If you know anything about coding, you will know that algorithm is a step-by-step program which executes line by line. This design ensures a reliable and repeatable product. Finally, digital devices are robust to noise which means they are uninterrupted by unwanted transmissions. By utilizing binary code, digital devices are able to reliably interpret these messages and cut out unwanted frequencies. These three advantages combined help to make digital the ideal choice for computers.

When talking about digital computers, the conversation is usually all about its pros. However, its import to note that they are some draw backs within the digital world. For starters, our entire economy, government, and infrastructure all rely on digital computers for many applications. God forbid we go to war, we are just one EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) or cyberattack away from all those things being corrupted. Our significant dependency leaves us incredibly vulnerable to malicious intentions. Our incredible dependency also create knowledge gaps. I mean this in the sense that, because so many things are automated and done for us we forgotten to do simple everyday tasks. This dependency could lead to generations of people that just simply don’t know how to function without it.

Overall, digitals computers provide an incredible advantages in terms of reliability, and making many aspects of life much easier. Although there are some draw backs, it is clear that society will continue to push the envelope with what is digitally possible.