Digital describes information stored or transmitted as a series of ones and zeros, the basic language computers use. Your phone, computer, and video game console are all digital devices because they process information this way, converting everything (pictures, sounds, words, videos) into patterns of electrical signals that mean either “on” or “off.”

Before digital technology, most things were analog. Records stored music as physical grooves, photographs captured images on film using chemicals, and clocks used gears and springs. Digital versions convert all these things into number codes. A digital photo breaks an image into millions of tiny dots called pixels, each one represented by numbers that tell the computer what color to display.

The digital revolution transformed how we live. Digital cameras replaced film. Digital music files replaced CDs and cassettes. Digital books can be carried by the thousands on a single tablet. Because digital information consists of numbers, it can be copied perfectly, sent across the world instantly, and stored in incredibly small spaces. The music collection that once filled an entire wall of shelves now fits in your pocket.

When people talk about going digital, they mean switching from physical or analog methods to computer-based ones. Schools go digital when they replace textbooks with tablets. Businesses go digital when they move their records from filing cabinets to computers. The digital age or digital era refers to our current time, when digital technology shapes nearly everything we do.