Essential Guide to Computing: The Story of Information Technology, The

Conclusion

Analog communications created a true revolution in society. The telephone, radio, television, and fax were based on tremendous ingenuity both in understanding nature and in manipulating it. The very idea of modulating waves to carry information shows creativity. Producing systems that, like television, could change the amplitude, frequency, and phase of waves to provide both detailed images in color and high quality sound, has to be viewed as a stunning technical achievement, even when considered in the larger historical context. Given these achievements, the rapid ascendancy of digital systems is all the more remarkable.

The digital approach is inherently better than its analog competition in accuracy. At first, it didn't seem that ...