Dialog by James Tye PC Authority March 1998

                                  THE DIGITAL AGE

    Today nothing escapes the digital touch, but can it ever replace the warmth of analog?
 The world today is a more digital place, from music and video, to Watches and cameras - and
 for what reason? What is it about digital storage, the storing and processing of data as binary
 information, that's so much better than the analog medium? Are there universal themes that make
 digital technology superior? The most often cited is accuracy: information stored as bits is
 often more precise than its analog equivalent. Counters are a far more accurate way to read 
 information than dials; CDs are less subject to 'noise' than vinyl. In fact, the music industry
 has been known to criticise the digital medium as being too clinical, with some die-hards
 preferring the warmer, more natural sound ofvinyl.
    This may be an extreme case, but most music sequencing software will have algorithms for 
'warming up' digital drum lines and the like. This is because the levels of sampling used still
 require the fine rounded waves of naturally produced sounds to be shoehorned into discrete
 square wave segments. A human drummer won't produce the predse rhythms of a digital drum kit,
 and it's these slight variations in tempo that give a 'live' and 'spontaneous' feel. Listen to
 the synthesised spoken word and you'll realise why voice menus generally use sampled human 
 speech, broken up not by phonemes, but by words and phrases.
    So digital technology is not necessarily more accurate.
    Does a digital watch keep better time than a Tag? There's no absolute answer.
 Self-winding watches can be more susceptible to the wearer's lifestyle, and digital mechanisms
 can be less affected by climatic changes. But given the respective costs, the accuracy per
 dollar is going to be a lot higher with a $25 digital watch than with a $2,500 analog mechanism.
 The same isn't true of digital cameras though, with an $1,500 camera producing considerably
 worse quality images than an $15 disposable box. No, the reason digital cameras are catching on
 (and they are - a trip to Japan convinced me of that) is because they're inherently more
 flexible than film-based cameras and undoubtedly cheaper to run. So is all digital technology
 more flexible? Back to CDs again; your average audio CD is no more flexible than its vinyl
 counterpart. Sure, DVD (digital versatile disc) will combine sound and video in one shiny
 silver package, but it comes 15 years after the CD became mainstream. Despite the obvious
 sound quality improvements - particularly noticeable at the budget end of the hi-fi
 market - the reason CDs succeeded was because they were convenient. No fussing with the 
 anti-static cloth, no worrying about scratches, while finding a track demands nothing more 
 than hitting a skip forward
        JUST BECAUSE IT'S DIGITAL DOESN'T MEAN IT'S AUTOMATICALLY BETTER
 button. But if you thought convenience was a good reason to buy a digital camera, you should
 look at the load some of my digital camera-wielding colleagues carry around, notebook PC,cables
 more cables and enough AA batteries to ballast a battleship.
    In short, each digital technology confers its own advantage and just because it's digital 
 doesn't mean it's automatically better. I still wear an analog watch and I'm also much happier 
 with the analog rev counter in my car that bounces as the engine purrs. Seriously, though, even
 if you take personal taste (dare I say, style) out of the equation, moving to a digital medium 
 should be a decision based on your needs and expectations, not to mention sound financial 
 judgement.
    Today's digital cameras are expensive. Unless you're an estate agent taking and processing 
 72 shots a day, the high purchase cost will be hard to justify. Better results can be had with 
 a cheap automatic job and a basic flatbed scanner, although getting pictures to and from screen
 (if that's what you really need to do) is a piece of cake. As for running costs, you won't need
 film or processing, but at roughly $10 a roll it's going to be a long time before that high
 investment is borne out - and that's before you factor in the way these units eat batteries.
 As an aside, it's interesting to note that the chemicals contained in batteries are a bi-product
 of the film manufacturing process, so if film production goes down it's likely that battery cost
 will go up. However, if you find the flexibility and immediacy of digital technology exciting 
 and as an IT journalist, I know technology can be extremely sexy - then go for it. Just be
 aware that a product's digital nature is not a guarantee that it's better - for now, anyway.
    When the cost comes down and the picture quality, connectivity and battery life improves
 (and I assure you it will), I'll think again.
    So what's next in line to go digital? Video cameras are already on their way, although this
 is still a niche market. Digital TV is on the horizon, although most of us now own TVs with
 digital sound. Around the corner I can see digital business cards, with information exchanged
 at the press of a button, digital cash with no loose change to worry about. There's even a wave
 of digital pets on the horizon: MOPY fish, virtual fish tanks, Tamagotchi, your friendly canine
 Office 97 assistant... The list just goes on and on.
    As we travel further and further into the digital age, all you really need to do is keep
 your eyes open. Some exciting new technologies will offer obvious applications for you or your
 business that will immediately seem ideal, while others will only leave you stone cold. 
 Remember - just because it's digital, it doesn't mean it's essential.
    Finally, much as I'm proud and pleased with the PC Authority cover disc, PC Authority will
 be winging its way in a good old-fashioned analog form for some months to come, that I can
 promise. {Extract}   MARCH 1998 PC AUTHORITY 23