Digital Communication

Definitions

Digital Communication

Digital Communication is communication using computer technology. For this to not be a circular definition requires defining "communication", which is not as trivial as it sounds.

Communication

'By "communication" we mean the conveying or transmission of information from one place and/or time to another. Admittedly this definition is not very precise, but the subject of communication is very broad.'--Page 1, Chapter 1, Second Edition of Ferrel G. Stremler's Introduction to Communication Systems, published by Addison-Wesley, copyright 1982

'Communication is the transmission of human thoughts, feelings, and experiences from one person to another through some channel.'--Rob Schuler 1997.

Information

knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction.--Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Copyright 1985.

the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produces specific effects.--Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Copyright 1985.

something (as a message, experimental data, or a picture) which justifies change in a construct (as a plan or theory) that represents physical or mental experience or another construct. --Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Copyright 1985.

Channel

a means of communication or expression: as (1): a path along which data passes or along which data may be stored serially (as in a computer) (2) pl: a fixed or official course of commination

Communication through a Channel

There is no way to directly exchange human experiences from one soul to another. We must capture our experiences in some collection of symbols capable of being transmitted in a channel which eventually allows another human to interpret the meaning. This idea of author, channel, receiver, leads to an important point: Human communication is subject to error. The author may not choose the "best" method to encode a message, the channel may corrupt the message, or the receiver may interpret a different meaning than the author intended. Consider the following figure:

The figure shows two individuals interpreting the written word "BOAT". One individual imagines a red power boat, while the other imagines a blue sail boat. In both cases, the individual is responding to the immediate stimulus of the message (the printed word "BOAT") by interpreting based upon past experiences. There are other interpretations of this figure. An interesting interpretation is from "our perspective", that is, you are receiving a web page that I've authored through the "digital channel" of your computer. Was your first interpretation of the figure related to the explanation given in this paragraph?

Channels for Record Keeping

Traditionally, paper based media have been used for the majority of "recorded" communication. Paper has many advantages: 1) it is light weight, 2) it has a long shelf life, 3) it doesn't require the use of additional equipment for interpretation (like micro-fiche or computer files). A key disadvantage of paper is that it is strictly a two-dimensional medium.

Digital media is quickly taking over many traditional roles fulfilled by paper. Computer communication does require the use of expensive equipment, but it offers several advantages over paper: 1) 'instantaneous' high-fidelity transmission, 2) higher storage density, three dimensions of expression (a two dimensional screen changing in time example), 3) interactive search tools which allow receivers to locate key words more quickly.

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