Since harnessing the power of digits, we’ve been able to do a bunch of cool stuff with it. It hasn’t even been 100 years, and we’ve already digitized many previous analog technologies, which have massively lowered the cost of media production . Let’s take a quick look over the digital milestones of humanity.
1. ENIAC (1945)
The ENIAC was the first general-purpose, Turing-complete digital computer…
Being general-purpose means that the computer was not designed for a single task; one could reprogram it for different problems by reconfiguring its wires and switches. There were other digital computers before ENIAC, but they were only single-purpose machines. ENIAC could perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Being Turing-complete means that the computer could theoretically simulate any computational process, given enough time and memory.
The first ever study run of the ENIAC is calculating the feasibility of a thermonuclear weapon.1
Yikes…
2. First Digitally Recorded Album (1971)
The technology for digitally recording sounds (Pulse-code modulation) was invented in 1937 for voice communication. PCM improved sound quality over long distances, which was useful for Allied communication in WWII. PCM works by converting analog sound into digital data by sampling sound waves at regular intervals, with each sample encoded digitally. Although it improved communication, it wasn’t high-quality enough for music recordings because the encoders still relied on vacuum tubes instead of transistors.2
This changed in the 1960s with the advent of transistors, which allowed more samples to be encoded, increasing the number of samples per second. NHK, a Japanese television company, began producing commercially available digital recorders. In collaboration with Denon, they developed a PCM recorder suitable for music recording. The 1971 album Something by Steve Marcus and J. Inagaki became the first digitally recorded album.34
3. First Digital Photo (1957)
The first digital photo was captured by Russel Kirsch, who captured this photo of his son. Digital photography works by using electronic photosensors that are linked to an analog to digital convertor that then turns the data into 0s and 1s.
This is the first published digital color photo, taken by Michael Tompsett, and it appeared in Electronics magazine in 1972. However, digital cameras were still experimental, and it wasn’t until the 1990s that fully digital cameras for commercial use became available.
The 1990 Dycam Model 1 was the first commercially available digital camera. It cost $995, which in today’s dollars would be approximately $2,300. The Model 1 shot at a resolution of 0.09 MP (320×240) and had 1MB of storage, holding up to 32 images. 5
Compare that with today’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has a 48 MP main sensor…
4. First Digital Blockbuster Film
One of the first major blockbuster films captured digitally was the 2002 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. In collaboration with Sony, George Lucas used one-of-a-kind prototype cameras. There were several advantages to using a digital film camera. Firstly, the crew could view a live version of what they were filming on large screens. Additionally, since the film required many visual effects, working with digital film made it easier to transfer and edit. The only downside was that the sets were filled with wires.6
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation ↩︎
- https://digital-audio-systems.com/development-of-digital-audio-technology/?lang=en ↩︎
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAX_iCSf-7k ↩︎
- https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/dycam-model-1 ↩︎
- https://www.starwars.com/news/clones-at-20-4-ways-star-wars-attack-of-the-clones-helped-change-filmmaking#:~:text=It%20employed%20the%20first%20digital%20cinema%20camera.&text=The%20ability%20to%20digitally%20capture,Lucas%20was%20eager%20to%20do. ↩︎
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