What is a Digital Economy? I have to look it up because it might not mean what it meant ten years ago when I first heard the term “Digital Transformation” or what we know to be true or understand about the transition from Analog to Digital Devices.

First, before I could even describe it, I have to compare it, using historical industry experience and reference – either refreshing or enhancing or updating what I knew or know to be true and where we’re at.

Wouldn’t you know it, the subject is complicated, referring to waves. In my research that spans across several sectors or areas: Brainwaves, Lightwaves, Sound Waves, and whatever other type of waves (like Ocean Waves) that information is sent across or ‘transfers and is managed.’ It’s no longer about just sending and processing signals. Those were just lights to confirm receipt, on or off on devices, such as Green or Blue, if a device is on or Red if off. It gets even more complicated in Brain Waves or Vocal Communication Human Readable Systems, or what industry calls “neural networks.”

I’ll start by explaining the term ‘signal’ since this is the current reference used to describe ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ devices, and more importantly because different devices and systems use different light colors and waves to send, process, and receive.

My best experiential reference where I lived through the actual transition from analog devices to digital devices, is in the use and transition of the Television. No longer do we use analog antennas to receive local information and with the transition to SmartTVs and Internet Television through the use of Applications, it is especially different and an important reference point for discussing “Digital Transformation” or to begin to discuss characteristics of the Digital Economy. No scholarly cite or long term empirical study is needed to prove the importance of the Television as one of America’s most heavily used devices to receive information. Other devices, which are also undergoing serious change are the telephone and radio by now moving to Internet Phones and Satellite or Networked Streaming Audio and Computer Audio Libraries.

The major shift that took place in radio-analog devices was not as widely pronounced as the television antenna. This was because listening to the radio was taken over at first by Internet Audio Systems on Peer to Peer Networks, or the introduction of the iPod and mp3 player. It did compare to the SmartTV somewhat closely in price, but not in functionality. The main difference, or problem seen in this area is the publication of the transition, its impact to the consumer, and the industry, as well as the major advancement in Technology. The SmartTV wasn’t publicized as a new Internet enabled TV that could handle all of your home entertainment and more, but was pushed onto the public as a requirement to transition from analog antennas in order to access basic television for customers who do not subscribe to cable – which was announced by a political official and forced. To a user or citizen, it was just an announcement that all Analog Antennas would no longer work, and that a separate box must be purchased or an upgraded television with a built in antenna or a subscription with a cable TV provider. Succinctly stated by Wikipedia: The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analog switch-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analog shutdown, is the process in which older analog television broadcasting technology is converted to and replaced by digital television.

My first exposure to the ‘digital transition’ was not the Television actually, it was my watch, or alarm clock. Where it no longer was a gear based system that moved pieces and parts on time, non-connected to anyone else in the world, but worn on my wrist and, as a separate device, plugged into my bedroom which performed the task of waking me up for school. The notable difference in comparison of these devices of its analog and digital form was the presentation of time, in either a traditional analog version showing the three hands, forcing the manual understanding, or the digital version, where I knew what time it was just by looking at the numbers lit up using led digital lights. There are more advanced versions, which are hybrid, and touchscreen watches, now that we are able to connect them to our cellular and internet devices.

Digital is best described in the way numbers are displayed or understood. Digits is an a slang term used to reference a phone number or a person’s fingers, both containing critical elements in health and terms of acronymically stated and possibly generally stated: financials – both references in phone numbers and fingers is 10 – in fact, a one and zero combination, but no longer required in the use of many modern systems.

It’s similar in the way we understand or were described how a computer system worked: “It’s all ones and zeros.” Is it? I cannot provide a scholarly reference for this commonly used and understatement and oversimplification about how computers work, other than to describe it as a grid on various number scales with many different references and rules, beyond just the personal computer. By using complex mathematics, we can formulate or draw our connections, using ‘graphics’ or using a numerical scale to translate our languages into numbers, into equations and algorithms for varied use and understanding, but this doesn’t explain the digital phenomena or offer insight as to how computers are made up of ‘ones and zeros.’ Most important, is the root word ‘digit’ and the major shift computers and digitization has taken, the formal statement of technology transition, as well as it’s slang reference, most importantly its impact on more than just the economy, such as health, change, or accessibility. For the sake of clarity, the paper will attempt to stay focused on the characteristics of a Digital Economy, but not without first discussing the roots of the digit and it’s importance in understanding those characteristics, which is more than just letters, words, and numbers or charts, graphs, and figures, or a list of devices that are considered digital and the common characteristics of each.

Word Breakdowns: Digital and Analog

Cryptographically, the word digital in itself doesn’t make up other words, but does include an important reference within it, which many technical words often do. When we think of digital, we might first think of numbers and next think of a phone key pad, or third, our fingers. To break down the word and remove the important reference within it: git – the first name of a common software sharing resource called “GitHub,” we find the alpha reference to the other associated technology device: dial. The importance of the word itself and what it encompasses or includes, provides natural human reference to the topic, which is dependent upon time – a personal reference either learned or directly experienced stored in memory. This is especially important because it gives insight into the next stage of our transition from ‘analog’ to ‘digital’ being the advancement and change in use of these types of systems.

The word analog must be similarly broken down to show the important technical reference within it, being the acronym LAN, or Local Area Network – which is one of the major things that changed in accessing Local television after the Digital Transformation. The software library reference contained with Digital, called GitHub, includes the name of the very popular device called the Fit Bit. In order to see or understand this, you must be able to move letters and seek to find the correlation in technology transformation, as well as the naming convention of such devices that have transitions from analog to digital. The famously branded watch is categorized separately as a name brand and not included in the ‘digital’ family because it is now ‘touch’ enabled and connected to other devices or cloud applications. Within the word analog, after removing the technical reference within it, is a very important word and focus of technology, which is goal.

Not only does this show someone or something uses a naming convention to plan these technical changes, but also uses and mixes letters strategically to name and possibly prioritize to bring new devices to the marketplace, at least that is what we hope is true. By reviewing similarities of the two types of technology, we do see similarities beyond what function it serves in the industry, but also that there are technical references and popular names of technologies used, both hopefully short-lived: LAN and GitHub, but one does not correlate directly, as GitHub relates to FitBit, both brand names, and LAN to Goal, where there is a wide range of possibilities, best described as broadband and narrowband, again with two technical references, one widely known by its digital or analog watch owners or two types of signals used in communication systems, now used to describe the difference between systems within the two technologies (analog and digital). There is a third important acronym within analog that must be noted as vitally important to both humans and computers, which is LANG, short for Language and an easy way to explain the difference of an analog watch vs. a digital watch or alarm clock, but seen in numbers, not letters. On a time schedule, the prioritization or ‘time to market’ on the digital transformation of the time device, is actually the latest to the market, when it was actually the first to market in the transition to the digital alarm clock.

It seems to be a complex explanation of a juxtaposition of two technologies or a ‘flip’ in time which is another popular word and tech trend used in Phone Technologies, often seen as a user preference or style trend – a very critical factor in the ‘digital economy.’ User preference is obviously not the most important driver or characteristic of the Digital Economy. This brings us to the question of what drives it and causes these devices to transition in such order and by the use of such names as it correlates to systems within them. Caution is naturally used when we began to view technology this way because within the word touch, which is where our devices are headed, might force protection or attention to what is within the ‘types’ of technology that drives or is important beyond the economy, for example: touch enabled devices because it directly uses the word ouch, which is a commonly used word for pain, or in technology directly used to describe another commonly used critically important system called the Active Directory of an Organizational Unit (OU), closely tied to OA or organizational authority, used in Microsoft Email Systems. It could also be very well explained as a competition between auditory systems and feeling systems or the ‘preference’ of voice activated or enabled devices versus touch devices, such as the remote control, or touch screen objects. There always seems to be leftovers or a very important letter, which narrows it downs and in touch it is the T; often used to denote a countdown in time, used by NASA for space shuttle lift off – “T minus 20” a mathematical time calculation of when something is about to launch, which not so naturally leads to another technical common protocol called lunch or standard time and challenge word: noon. The word, explained in time, separated explains, in a word a very common problem in today’s digital devices: where is the on switch and on some devices so confusing and small it is often the sound button or controller. Before I ‘delve’ into a letter mistake, and at the risk of a good grade on the paper, I’ll shift back to the ‘characteristics’ of the digital economy, but not before I note how we reference letters on a keyboard; by adding characters to form words.

What do the three words have in common and is there a pattern?
Characteristics
Digital
Economy
Analog

The four words use a vowel duplication pattern, but non repetition in totality of use:
3, 5, 10, 13
2, 4
3, 5
1, 3

There is no obvious numerical pattern, other than prime, whole numbers. There is a pattern of syllables in the topic of selection
Characteristics – 5
Digital – 3
Economy – 4
Analog – 3

This shows another correlation and pattern in viewing the auditory pronunciation and numerical count of vowels and placement of the two topics in a rhythm construction which correlates to the pattern technology has taken, a sort of random reach of showing how the ‘watch’ was first and now last, similar to viewing the numerical sequence of the last digit’s pattern of the two words, in presentation of the subject analog versus characteristics in sequence in this paper, but not in the discussion question. The comparative technology analog was not mentioned in the discussion, but discussing characteristics of the digital economy is not possible without historical reference and review of its predecessor. Had the numerical reference in the comparison resulted in 12, it might be a noteworthy discovery of another time, function reference, and it does, but one word is omitted, just like the word ‘analog’ in the discussion topic – three words, resulting in the number twelve, but omitting ‘of the’ for the sake of subject identification and the removal of the mathematical reference translated as a ‘percent’ or part. The part being the most important subject of this paper and what each technology pertains to.

In this paper, I have dissected the words analog and digital to find directly visible evidence of technology, but not on purpose, just by experience and habit of cryptography. I naturally sought an economic reference and did not find one directly, but found spelling and pronunciation or common audio-visual linguistical similarities, documenting an amazing discovery in human readable technology pathology in how the brain dissects, reads, and describes the visual, audio reception and how it correlates to our household entertainment and time devices. Just by dissecting the word ‘character’ I find reach/act, and overlook the very closest associated words: hear/teach. Caution is added, along with two words, just because of the dangers and multiple uses of another word ‘reactor’ where only an ‘o’ is missing – which also has multiple relevant references of ‘circular’ or the understanding of learning something.

Characteristics includes statistics, which is so valuable in today’s technology environment and necessary to prove economic importance of any device. Unfortunately, few studies provide statistical references to what drives the digital economy, but research helps us understand what that ‘economy’ includes. It does not help us to understand time to marketplace, or why one device is more successful or desirable and prioritized over another. Focusing solely on the word characteristics, I must also dissect and put that word into technological historical context as it relates to the reading of text and the change from ‘carbon copies’ or optical character readers (OCR) in portability and word types, separating the file type from the application and then possibly correlating again to prove criticality, not in document format size, company owner, file type, or ability to edit, but also because it correlates to the visual component of human and computer technologies – a very important characteristic of the Digital Economy and just technology in general.

Optical character recognition or optical character reader is the electronic or mechanical conversion of images of typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-encoded text, whether from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scene-photo or from subtitle text superimposed on an image.  This sort of explains the difference in analog and digital alarm clocks, but a ‘light-numerical’ format is an easier description. It’s especially important because these are devices that require the use of our eyes and must be visually stimulating. The word Optical includes the word local, which is an important element of technology, in which we were once limited because of networking and range; both words include auditory references.

Why the words analog and digital is most often used when describing a signal is unknown, when it applies to many different things. Since signal includes “GIS,” a very important name for a critical system called geographical information system or global information system, depending upon your selection or frame of reference and use, it is clear these terms are used together and critical characteristics of Technology, but naturally, the next stage beyond digitization is what is sought. Is there an indication within this paper, after the numerical dissection and pattern review of the words? Does it include political reference or does economy need to be dissected and correlated with the auto industry? Based on the naming convention, I want to presume it is automatic, but it might be a human selective process of selecting prioritizing and naming using a search pattern or interval sequence with reference to the advancement of imagery and might encompass more than just what we see and hear, but also to include what we want and need and not what we’re force fed by industry leaders.

What are the characteristics of the Digital Economy? What do you call the Digital Economy? A large cap stock portfolio of Apple, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Thai Chi, Tae Bo, with Sony and Seiko? I am not a technology stock broker. I really don’t want to dissect connectivity methods and discuss the problems associated with a separate and equal or unequal economy behind that product, but can easily omit is because it does not include a digital display. It does have a blue light to indicate it is connected, as well as audio confirmation, but it does not connect to all digital devices, which more valuable in economic value than to discuss the Digital Economy of the latest non-bluetooth enabled Smart TV, or why its namer uses blue teeth singularly. Add an E after l and you will find out this paper is early, just as the introduction of the blue tooth to the market place, as well as many other useful audio-visual devices.