Digitization is the process of converting information into data that computers can store and transmit using binary code made up of 0s and 1s. Text is easier to digitize because it is already based on a limited and fixed set of symbols, such as the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation. We talked about how if something has a fixed number of symbols, it can be represented digitally. Computers use systems like ASCII and Unicode to assign each character a number that can then be translated into binary. This allows text to be copied, stored, searched, and sent across the internet very accurately. One of the earliest examples of digital communication was the telegraph, which used Morse code to turn letters into dots and dashes that could travel electrically over long distances. The telegraph completely changed communication because messages could travel almost instantly instead of taking days or weeks by mail. However, it eventually declined as newer technologies like the telephone and internet allowed people to communicate more naturally through voice and multimedia instead of coded signals.
Sound digitization is more complex because sound exists as continuous analog sound waves. To digitize sound, computers sample the sound wave thousands of times per second and convert those measurements into binary data. The more samples taken, the clearer and more accurate the sound becomes. We also learned about noise in digital systems and how digital technology can reduce interference and improve clarity. Without digital encoding and noise correction, computers, the internet, and smartphones would not function the way they do today, and cell phones would mostly only support unclear voice communication. There are important tradeoffs in digitizing sound because higher sound quality requires more storage space and bandwidth, while compressed audio saves space but can lose detail and quality. Overall, digitization made modern communication possible by balancing accuracy, speed, storage, and efficiency.
