According to techterms.com, Digital information is stored using a series of ones and zeros. Computers are digital machines because they can only read information as on or off -- 1 or 0. This method of computation, also known as the binary system, may seem rather simplistic, but can be used to represent incredible amounts of data. CDs and DVDs can be used to store and play back high-quality sound and video even though they consist entirely of ones and zeros.
Unlike computers, humans perceive information in analog. We capture auditory and visual signals as a continuous stream. Digital devices, on the other hand, estimate this information using ones and zeros. The rate of this estimation, called the "sampling rate," combined with how much information is included in each sample (the bit depth), determines how accurate the digital estimation is.
This video actually ends up being an ad for SafehouseExplorer but the concept of the video is really important. In this "digital age" our privacy is at an increased risk. Many of us have our whole lives on our computers, online, and on our cell phones; Our whole worlds saved into binary code. Websites track our use and save data, you lose a usb drive, you lose all of your personal information. Thanks digital world, where did our privacy go?!
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It is interesting to learn how humans perceive information. Although it is still somewhat confusing, this helps me to understand the difference between digital and analog. While analog is a continuous stream of data, digital is data stored in numerical form.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the concern of privacy. I understand that in order to have some of the benefits which technology grants us we need to realize that our privacy is sometimes at risk but sometimes the chance is too high.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the concern of privacy. Privacy is definitely at risk because of the new age we live in, but if we want to evolve technologically we have to take into account the certain privacies we give up.
ReplyDeleteBut in some ways, digital information is easier to encode and harder to intercept that analog signals. Is the issue of privacy specific to digitality, or more generally on account of electronic technology?
ReplyDeleteThe issue of privacy can be attributed to electronic technology and not merely digital technology. However, I think Ruby was trying to say that digital technologies like the internet has increased rather than created our risk of privacy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lance that the danger in privacay is related to electronic technology in general. We have not yet learned how to control the information on the internet and even though we find ways to prevent hacking, the hackers often seem to figure out new ways to get our information. Also, our privacy becomes an issue because the internet tracks what websites we visit using cookies and the information on our facebook and email accounts is sold to marketers. For instance, this link provides information about a recent scandal at Gmail:
ReplyDeletehttp://gawker.com/5375324/did-your-email-get-hacked-maybe
In response to Professor Strate's comment, I think the issue of privacy is specific to electronic technology, not just digitality. I think people have a hard time trusting electronic technology. And for good reason! People are afraid to give any personal information, especially credit card and social security information over the internet due to fear of where it might end up. Identity theft is a huge issue lately, instilling fear in the minds of many people. Not as life altering, but still scary is whether your contact information will be sold to companies who are going to spam you. A perfect example of this is the idea of a "junk email" account. I used to have an AOL email address but since it started getting hundreds of spam emails each day, I created a new Gmail account. I still keep the AOL address in order to give it to companies that require an email but who I don't want to know my real email address. There should be a "Do Not Call" list for email.
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