@rakshabytes's reel — transcript & breakdown

Starts with a common technical question, piquing curiosity about how computers work at a fundamental level.

“Why do computers read only zeros and ones? Why not 10 or 100 digits?”

Briefly demonstrates the broad application of binary in modern technology, setting the stage for the technical explanation.

“Even for text, video games, or AI, it comes down to the physical limitation of the hardware used to build them”

Explains the core concept of transistors and silicon's role as a semiconductor, simplifying complex electronics.

“Modern electronics are powered by tens of billions of tiny switches called transistors, built using silicon, a material that can either act as a conductor or an insulator.”

Illustrates how voltage creates binary states (on/off, 0/1) for digital processing.

“So by using voltage to trigger these two states, we have a physical system for binary. On or off. Zero means low or no voltage. One means high voltage.”

Addresses the 'why not decimal' question, explaining the practical limitations of noise and cost in multi-state systems.

“But why not create a decimal computer zero to nine that can identify 10 different voltage levels? Technically, it is possible, but the problem is modern chips run at incredibly low voltages, usually under 1V, so they won't melt down. So heat can easily cause a 0.7-volt signal to be misread as a 0.8-volt signal, completely corrupting the data. Also, 10 states would require a much more expensive hardware than a simple on-and-off switch.”

Summarizes how binary switches form logic gates, leading to complex computations across all digital media.

“So by combining these binary switches in specific patterns called logic gates, AND, OR, or NOT gates, computers perform complex math. Everything we see from text, high-level graphics, to videos, ultimately comes down to this. Hundreds of billions of switches arranged in a certain pattern.”