Digital Versus Analogical

During Wednesdays lecture Professor Strate discussed the important differences of digital and analogical in reference to new media. A digital system is comprised of discrete units, which bare no resemblance to what they represent. They have a few unique features which consist of being more compact, takes up significantly less storage space, frees up bandwidth, can be easily copied and shared so no data is degenerated, and it is very easy to edit. Everyday examples of digital systems are fingers, numbers, an alphabet composed of letters, words, and language. As you can see digital systems have been a concrete foundation in our society for many decades. Analogical, which is the opposite of digital, means a system that is not logical. Analogical systems consist of continuous units, which have some similarity to what they are representing. An example of an analogical system is a picture. The measurement of an analogical system is always an approximation. Throughout recent decades we have seen many forms of progression. With progression has brought the age of digital systems and its impact on analogical systems. Digital has been and will eventually drive out analogical systems. It was very interesting to watch and understand the videos that were played of and about Marshal McLuahns' life. These videos gave insight on what his views really were and what kind of impact he had and still has on society. I look forward to learning more about him through out this course.