What is the difference between analog and digital technology?
Computers are digital devices, meaning they perform all calculations using ones and zeros. This method of computing is referred to as the “binary system,” and is the heart of all digital technology. Devices such as hard drives, CD recorders, and Mini DV camcorders are digital devices, and therefore record data digitally, as ones and zeros. VCRs, tape players, and record players, on the other hand, are analog devices. This is because they record data linearly from one point to another. Imagine a bumpy line moving from left to right — that is what an analog audio recording would look like. Analog devices read the media, such as tapes or records, by scanning the physical data off the media. For example, a record player reads the bumps and dips in the grooves of the record and translates the information into an audio signal. An audio CD player, however, reads ones and zeros off a compact disc and translates that information into an audio signal. However, the ones and zeros only estimate t
