Word: analogy
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...capabilities of phones will be dramatically enhanced when an entirely new transmission technology, known as the Integrated Services Digital Network, is put into place across the U.S. Currently, most phone service is based on analog transmission, in which voices and data are carried by ordinary electric currents. ISDN uses a dense stream of digital signals...
...chief advantage of ISDN, especially for businesses, is that it enables phone users to transmit voices, video images and computer data along the same line simultaneously. In analog systems, separate lines are required for each of these functions. But with ISDN, callers can easily exchange documents, see each other and talk all at the same time. Moreover, ISDN will enable otherwise incompatible computer systems to communicate with one another. And greater amounts of data can be transmitted much more rapidly through ISDN than with analog equipment...
...cost of both the DAT cassettes and the machines needed to play them is high enough so that the new technology will probably appeal, at least initially, chiefly to real audiophiles. Similar in appearance to ordinary analog cassettes but about two-thirds the size, DATs are expected to cost about $12. At first, digital tape machines will set buyers back anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500, vs. $200 to $600 for CD players...
Digital recordings, the critics contend, are devoid of the warmth and ambience that marks the best analog recordings when played on the finest equipment. Further, they say, the arbitrary sampling rate of a CD results in an incomplete snapshot of any given moment of sound. "The woodwinds all sound alike," claims Pearson. "You can't tell the difference between one string or the other, and you can't tell if what you're hearing is a horn or a trumpet. Digital audio is like McDonald's hamburgers. It's all alike...
...Analog defenders contend that there is nothing wrong with LPs that cannot be cured by a $1,000 Linn Sondek turntable, a $1,200 tone arm and an $850 rosewood cartridge, among other so-called high-end components. But it seems unlikely that the ordinary music lover will want to shell out $10,000 or more to experience the hidden delights of LPs. Despite their imperfections, CDs have overwhelming advantages. The sound is clear and bright. There is no surface noise, no turntable rumble, no pitch fluctuation. Says Leonard Feldman, who runs an audio laboratory on New York's Long...