Whats up with the word (digital) Why is every new gizmo is called a new digital?

Question

Every new electronic gizmo is called the new (digital)

Answer 1

Hey, that's just the usual MARKETING.

Every company with a product has a Marketing Department, who's job is to figure out how to get YOU to hand over your hard earned cash in return for one of their widgets.

Toward that end, they have to get you excited about said widget. One tried and true method is the "New and Improved!" claim. You see this is used for detergent, soda-pop, cars, etc. Everyone gets excited about the new, at least until they determine it's really "same old, same old" in a fancy new box.

Another very popular method of marketing is "Insert Hot Buzzword!". In other words, what word is associated with products that already have BUZZ... what word is already seen to be selling. Well, DIGITAL has been one of them, pretty much since the early 80s... Compact Disc Digital Audio, Digital Versatile Disc, Digital Camera, Digital Video, etc.

While digital technology certainly offers some advantages over analog in many areas, the marketing people have gone nuts with the naming. For example, they're slapping the "digital" tag on cables, antennas, etc... even those that are exactly the same as used for analog.

Anyway, that's an explanation of why this is done -- they think it sells product.

Answer 2

ever heard of marketing?
do you buy old technology things?

I think it started with "transistorized".
Then it was the number of transistors - even though there was 10 transistors in that radio only 3 did anything - the others were totally functionless.

Would you buy a "transistorized" widgit over a "computerized" one?

Then if it is "analog" vs "digital" which would you buy?