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From: ken@rochester.ARPA (Comfy chair)
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.physics,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Analog/Digital Distinction
Message-ID: <22067@rochester.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 2-Nov-86 01:18:00 EST
Article-I.D.: rocheste.22067
Posted: Sun Nov  2 01:18:00 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 3-Nov-86 22:41:59 EST
References: <105@mind.UUCP> <6654@think.COM>
Reply-To: ken@rochester.UUCP (Comfy chair)
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Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept, Rochester, NY
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Xref: mnetor sci.math:105 sci.physics:99 sci.electronics:48

I tend to side with those who say that the A/D distinction is mostly in
the mind of the observer. The world is seamless to me and but may be
digital at the atomic quantum level for all I know. (Please, no physics
flames about this, I'm ignorant here.) We just use whatever analysis is
appropriate.

Is a CD player a digital system or an analog system? It partakes of
both.  I can make a very nice sinewave oscillator out of a couple of
TTL inverters by biasing them correctly. I can turn my op amp into a
nice bistable flip-flop with the right feedback.  Is light radiation or
particles? Does it matter? Depends on which sets of equations are
simpler to solve. Looking for a distinction in this A/D question
probably reveals more about man's desire to classify than anything
else. Words are not the reality.

	Ken