I was recently talking with a non-technical lady in her mid-20's about analog vs digital surveillance cameras. She flawed me by asking, "What's analog?"
Instinctively I thought it was an easy question to answer but the words didn't come easily. I can point at plenty of examples of analog and digital technologies but was frustrated that I didn't have a neat, conceptual way to explain, "What is analog and what is digital?"
I'd like to find a good way to describe the difference without doing either of the following:
- pointing at something like a bulky CRT TV vs a flat screen TV and saying, "That's the difference." This doesn't really answer the fundamental question of what it means for a device to be analog or digital? This is complicated by all the shades of gray, such as an LCD TV supporting analog and digital signals!
- an overly technical lesson in analog vs digital electronics which will leave non-technical customers with glazed eyes.
Is there a neat, conceptual way to describe analog vs digital technologies to customers? Perhaps it is it too difficult unless one narrows down the topic to the use of these technologies in video surveillance cameras?
I'd greatly appreciate hearing from any wordsmiths who know how to answer this seemingly simple question.