This site may earn chapter commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

The Matrix

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

Modern society is ruled, dominated, and slavishly beholden to ane of flesh's most unproblematic machinations: The binary digit. Whether it is a flash of light, surge of electrons, or rug held over a smoky fire, the bit merely represents on or off, and however it underpins about every facet of human life. Without bits and bytes, well-nigh anything that is more circuitous than opening a window or taking the trash out would be impossible.

Without bits, your computer would not work. Heck, without bits the equipment used to make your computer wouldn't piece of work — your calculator would but end to be. Without bits, you wouldn't exist able to make telephone calls, or surf the web on your telephone. Without bits your business firm'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 modernistic banking, the stock markets, telly, and of course the cyberspace.

Binary is the underlying language by which mod humans interact with the world. We might utilize higher-level languages such as English language or Chinese or C++, merely when it eventually comes down to manual beyond a network or controlling a machine, it's all binary. When yous IM a friend, your words are encoded into bits, squirted beyond a network, and so decoded back into words. Ditto telephone calls, SMS, and email. When you tap the brake or accelerator in your motorcar, your human foot's movement is translated into a stream of binary $.25 that control an assortment of motors, pumps, and actuators. When you click Print in Discussion, your document — words, images, formatting and all — is rastered as a dumb bitmap and sent to your printer.

Robot scribeMayhap more than chillingly, binary is besides the language by which computers and machines communicate, often apart. 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 have a more common example, fifty-fifty your home figurer has a huge number of system processes that constantly communicate using binary, often without any human interaction. Stuxnet, the virus that reportedly damaged Iran's uranium enrichment program, was but possible because near of the world's industrial machines are controlled by SCADA computer systems, which of course solely operate and communicate using bits.

Our reliance on bits grows every 24-hour interval. It was but a few years ago that TV (and cinema!) was predominantly analog, and now information technology's almost entirely digital: Free-to-air digital TV, DVDs, Netflix, Hulu, Tivo, cable, satellite, 5K Red cameras; it'due south all digital. Radio is moving slower, simply eventually it too volition brand the leap. Even the printed word — the technology that bootstrapped this scientific, high-tech world that nosotros live in — is going digital, thanks to the Kindle and iPad.

Your household probably still has a lot of analog equipment — taps, door locks, toasters — but with digital thermostats, smart appliances, automation, multi-room audio systems, and blanket WiFi, digital is definitely making inroads. Homes aren't rebuilt very often, and then it volition take time for digital bits to fully usurp their clunky, rusted, whirring, analog ancestors, but eventually your business firm volition just be some other node on the internet. If you look at offices, shops, and other commercial spaces that are constantly rejuvenated, you tin already see automatic faucets, automatic doors, digital displays and billboards, and myriad other binary-powered devices.

Next page: The king of $.25

  • 1 of 2