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I have no idea where to put this thread, so I'm trying out this forum.
Why do computers use the binary number system instead of other n-base number systems? I did a Google search and I saw that one explanation was that in a circuit, certain devices are either turned on or off (1 or 0) which is why base 2 was used historically. I'm rather clueless about this, so excuse me if I sound naive. But hasn't technology progressed enough such that we can build computers which are not constrained by either on or off binary systems?
Another reason I found was that otherwise the complexity involved in using something other than 2-base number system would burn out the system, more room for errors. Here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_computers_use_the_binary_code_instead_of_the_decimal_system
Or are there other reasons why such is not possible or feasible?
Why do computers use the binary number system instead of other n-base number systems? I did a Google search and I saw that one explanation was that in a circuit, certain devices are either turned on or off (1 or 0) which is why base 2 was used historically. I'm rather clueless about this, so excuse me if I sound naive. But hasn't technology progressed enough such that we can build computers which are not constrained by either on or off binary systems?
Another reason I found was that otherwise the complexity involved in using something other than 2-base number system would burn out the system, more room for errors. Here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_computers_use_the_binary_code_instead_of_the_decimal_system
Or are there other reasons why such is not possible or feasible?