ANALOG / DIGITAL

This week the Word of the Week is a pair of words. The words are ANALOG and DIGITAL.

I thought we really needed to know the difference is these words. Think of it this way, ANALOG is best explained in relation to DIGITAL. ANALOG refers to things that are in a continuous flow or that have an infinite number of values-things that are "analogous"to real life.

For example, a watch with hands is an ANALOG device, because as the hands sweep over the watch face, time can be shown in a continous flow, with an infinite number of possible increments. A DIGITAL watch, on the other hand, displays time in finite chunks-seconds or tenths of seconds or perhaps even smaller chunks, but at any one moment there's one specific number showing, always countable and limited.

Information that is DIGITAL is information represented by numbers (digits) or more broadly, information that can be measured in discreet, exact values.

Teachers and students are invited to submit examples of ANALOG/DIGITAL and "creative" sentences using the words. Submit your entries by clicking on COMMENTS below. The best/most creative examples and sentences using the words will win a prize from the "treasure chest" or a gift certificate to the Java Jungle.

definitions and examples taken from JARGON, an information dictionary of computer terms, Peachpit Press, 1993.