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The Matrix

bit [bit] noun 1. A single, basic unit of information, used in connection with computers and information theory. A binary digit.

Modern society is ruled, dominated, and slavishly beholden to ane of mankind's well-nigh simple machinations: The binary digit. Whether it is a flash of lite, surge of electrons, or carpeting held over a smoky fire, the bit merely represents on or off, and even so information technology underpins almost every facet of human life. Without bits and bytes, almost annihilation that is more complex than opening a window or taking the trash out would be impossible.

Without $.25, your computer would non work. Heck, without bits the equipment used to make your estimator wouldn't work — your estimator would just cease to exist. Without $.25, you wouldn't be able to brand phone calls, or surf the web on your phone. Without bits your house's heating system wouldn't work (and neither would the timer on your oven, or your Tivo DVR). Bits and bytes are the basis for modern banking, the stock markets, television receiver, and of course the internet.

Binary is the underlying language by which modern humans interact with the world. We might use college-level languages such equally English language or Chinese or C++, but when it eventually comes down to manual across a network or controlling a machine, information technology'due south all binary. When yous IM a friend, your words are encoded into bits, squirted across a network, and and so decoded back into words. Ditto telephone calls, SMS, and email. When you tap the brake or accelerator in your car, your foot's movement is translated into a stream of binary $.25 that command an array of motors, pumps, and actuators. When y'all click Print in Word, your certificate — words, images, formatting and all — is rastered as a dumb scrapmap and sent to your printer.

Robot scribeMayhap more chillingly, binary is besides the linguistic communication by which computers and machines communicate, often autonomously. Many robots, such equally the pork ham deboner or Petman, are primarily governed past sensory feedback, which always boils down to bits and bytes. To take a more mutual example, fifty-fifty your habitation computer has a huge number of organisation processes that constantly communicate using binary, often without any homo interaction. Stuxnet, the virus that reportedly damaged Islamic republic of iran'south uranium enrichment program, was only possible because near of the earth'south industrial machines are controlled past SCADA computer systems, which of course solely operate and communicate using bits.

Our reliance on bits grows every day. Information technology was only a few years agone that Tv set (and movie theatre!) was predominantly analog, and now it'southward almost entirely digital: Gratis-to-air digital Television set, DVDs, Netflix, Hulu, Tivo, cable, satellite, 5K Red cameras; it's all digital. Radio is moving slower, but eventually information technology also volition make the jump. Fifty-fifty the printed word — the technology that bootstrapped this scientific, high-tech earth that we live in — is going digital, thanks to the Kindle and iPad.

Your household probably all the same has a lot of analog equipment — taps, door locks, toasters — but with digital thermostats, smart appliances, automation, multi-room sound systems, and blanket WiFi, digital is definitely making inroads. Homes aren't rebuilt very often, so information technology will take time for digital bits to fully usurp their clunky, rusted, whirring, analog ancestors, just eventually your house will just exist another node on the net. If you look at offices, shops, and other commercial spaces that are constantly rejuvenated, you can already see automatic faucets, automatic doors, digital displays and billboards, and myriad other binary-powered devices.

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