A History Lesson about the Future of Digital Marketing

The word digital has been tossed around for a while - digital watches and clocks, the internet, electronics, and now digital marketing. So why is everything digital suddenly so new and fresh again? Let’s take a moment to dissect the word that is so widely-used these days.

The word Digital stems from the word digit or digitus, which is Latin for finger. According to Wikipedia, “The word digital is most commonly used in computing and electronics, especially where real-world information is converted to binary numeric form as in digital audio and digital photography.”

I’d like to think that the use of the word “digital” to describe this coming era (which is now upon us, if you haven’t heard) is a clever double-meaning, but I may be stretching it a little. Here it goes: With the use of mobile devices, our fingers bring all this binary numeric real-world information right to us, which gives digital a whole new and even more complete meaning. We are, literally, in a digital age where our fingers are no longer the numbers and symbols, but, instead, bring the numbers and symbols to us. How cool is that!

With all this new age tech you can bet I’m wondering where those hover cars are, but apparently, digital systems aren’t new media at all - sorry, new media fans! Digital systems have been around for centuries. They are ancient technology housed in pretty new cases called ipads and Androids.

Fun fact: Digital information is understood by the sequence in which symbols are placed. To put it into context - when you read text, you are using digital technology to understand the words written.

Errors in digital communication rarely cause problems unless one symbol is understood as another. You’ve all seen those emails sent around where evrey wrod is miseplled btu somhewo yuo cna stlil raed it - that’s an example of a digital error that has little consequence. The symbols didn’t change, but the sequence did. Because you understood the symbols, sequence mattered far less in understanding the message.

So with that out of the way, here’s a quick run down of the history of digital systems:

DNA - The very make up of our bodies is a digital system that passes biological makeup from one generation to the next.

Text - the alphabet is a set of symbols used to convey a message.

Abacus - Using rows of beads to represent numbers, this ancient calculator uses the placement and number of beads to convey numeric messages.

Flag semaphore - In the US, a flag at half-mast delivers a message. This is an example of a digital communication. Flags and rods placed in particular positions send messages. Similarly, maritime signal flags use symbols to represent letters that deliver digital messages to other seafarers.

Beacons - Using on and off as the symbols to convey messages, soldiers in the Revolutionary War used lights in on and off states to deliver messages.

Morse Code - Using dots, dashes, and gaps in between symbols delivers messages. We typically think of Morse code as an auditory symbol, however, it can be displayed through light as well.

Braille - This six-bit code as seen and felt in dot patterns delivers messages through binary format.

Now, when you think about the digital age, enjoy a bit of history and a better understanding of the languages you are speaking and the messages you are communicating. One of things I found particularly delightful about this was the fact that a digital language can be used to transmit another digital language. Our digital phones and devices convert digital symbols like the alphabet into a form that can then be distributed and read by another individual on his or her own device.

Oh and here’s a digital message for you - see if you can figure out the language: )81$!( 6%* *1549$7.