Charles Darwin had already stated that EVOLUTION IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS &
computers are no exception to this. The reasons for using only 0 & 1
for every single piece of information inside a computer system are:
We all know that a computer is made up of ICs(Integrated Circuits).
An IC is a network of miniature circuits fabricated on a semicoonductor
material
called a chip. An IC is called as such because it's components viz.-
transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc. are an integral part of the
chip.
The engineers of Texas Instruments had invented the first IC in 1959.
According to their function ICs can be classified as:
1. Digital ICs
2. Linear ICs
A digital IC is made up of Logic Gates(or simply gates) & processes only
digital
signals. A digital signal is a signal in which only two values are used-
logical
0 & logical 1. A logic gate can have one or more inputs but only one output.
The
output depends on the combination of the inputs' applied to it.
Hence it is concluded that the the output of a logic gate can be either 0 or 1.
A logic circuit is a circuit that is formed by combining several logic gates &
is capable of making a decision based upon the inputs.
So we can only input 0 & 1 to a computer at it's basic level & can only get
either a 0 or a 1 as output. As the conversion of data from one form to another
involves considerable time & power so it is not advisable to store the
information in any other form & convert it into 0 & 1 form at the time of
processing as all processing & decision making is done by logic circuits only.
A Linear IC processes analog signals.
Moreover the main secondary storage device, i.e., the hard disks, are employing
a two-state technique for storing information. Hard disks store information by
changing the polarity of small particles on it's platter surface. The main
property of these particles is that they can retent their magnetic property for
long times. The head writes on the hard disk media by magnetizing the small
particles on it's surface by producing magnetic flux with the help of current
flowing through it. The direction of the current makes the particles aligned in
a specific direction. While reading no current is flowed through the head, but
a
current is induced in the head due to the motion of the head over the magnetic
particle & the direction of this induced current helps in determining the
value of data at that place.
