I apologize for the silly title as I had no other idears. This thread may end up being useless bore but if it makes anyone think and learn then I guess it will suit a purpose afterall!
Anyway, I had a 'interesting' discussion with a fellow about a simple single-pole switch used in everyday homes to turn on your lights. You either turn it on or turn it off. Simple, right?Well, he is arguing that this makes the single-pole switch a digital device because it is on or off (HIGH or LOW) and this is the defintion of digital. I would have leaned toward an electro-mechanical device myself.
I pointed out this would make analog components like a comparator, an op-amp used as a comparator (often not suggested and perhaps redundant?), or a simple transistor when viewed as a switch all digital devices since each can be used as on/off, HIGH or LOW. Unless I am missing some nitpicky definition somewhere, I consider these devices purely analog.
The only wiggle room I can see is if one considers a logic gate; e.g., an AND gate. My old Digital Fundamentals by Floyd starts off explaining logic gates. Art of Electronics starts discussing logic gates at the start of its Digital chapter (Chapter 8?). But it also notes that digital can be a little fuzzy and I am tending to agree. Texas Instruments puts logic under its analog product umbrella. And no, just because TI does this means they are the be-all-than-ends-all on definitions -- but it's still curious.
An AND gate has two distinct outputs: on/off, HIGH/LOW and only those states. Ok, fair enough. But if an AND gate is strictly a digital device, then why not a comparator? Why not the single-pole switch? In all these cases, there are only two states: on/off, HIGH/LOW.
But, in all these cases, the output is a continuous signal albiet in only two states. The signal is discrete -- thinking about a 1-bit ADC
-- but it is not quantized; i.e., represented by a certain number of bits.
I have always thought of digital device (or digital transmission for that matter) as a device that receives or transmits a series or set of
1's and 0's representing data and not simply isolated pulses. A microcontroller or DSP fits the bill but I guess this can get fuzzy too.I deal with analog and it has been a while since I dug deep into digital much less worry about strict electronic definitions in the matter. If you don't use it, you lose it. Or perhaps I slept in class. Practically all the defnitions I rounded up specifically meantion a series or set of pules that represent data. Not all, but most.
So, I guess after reading all of that nonsense can an electronic philosopher offer their thoughts? Hope I didn't waste bandwidth on a question that does not deal with a schematic!