Editing Digital media (section)

===Digital computers===
{{see also|Digital electronics|History of computing|History  hardware|History of programming languages|History of the transistor}}
[[Image:Wikipedia in binary.gif|thumb|right|Digital codes, like [[binary code|binary]], can be changed without reconfiguring mechanical parts.]]

Though they used machine-readable media, Babbage's engines, player pianos, jacquard looms and many other early calculating machines were themselves [[analog computers]], with physical, mechanical parts. The first truly digital media came into existence with the rise of [[digital computer]]s.<ref name=stanford>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Copeland|first=B. Jack|title=The modern history of computing|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computing-history/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=31 March 2014|date=Fall 2008}}</ref>  Digital computers use [[binary code]] and [[Boolean logic]] to store and process information, allowing one machine in one configuration to perform many different tasks. The first modern, programmable, digital computers, the [[Manchester Mark 1]] and the [[EDSAC]], were independently invented between 1948 and 1949.<ref name=stanford /><ref>{{cite news|title=Sci/tech pioneers recall computer creation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/317437.stm|access-date=29 March 2014|newspaper=BBC|date=15 April 1999|archive-date=30 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330064757/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/317437.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Though different in many ways from modern computers, these machines had digital software controlling their [[logical operation]]s. They were encoded in [[binary code|binary]], a system of ones and zeroes that are combined to make hundreds of [[Character (computing)|characters]]. The 1s and 0s of binary are the "digits" of digital media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/27331/12-projects-you-should-know-about-under-the-digital-india-initiative/|title=12 Projects You Should Know About Under the Digital India Initiative|date=2 July 2015|access-date=3 May 2016|archive-date=5 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505121028/http://www.thebetterindia.com/27331/12-projects-you-should-know-about-under-the-digital-india-initiative/|url-status=live}}</ref>