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> But what is "data"? It's a sequence of bits. You take reality (or whatever you want) and represent it as bits. That sequence of bits is called "data".
by Tomis02 4y ago
> But what is "data"?
It's a sequence of bits. You take reality (or whatever you want) and represent it as bits. That sequence of bits is called "data".
- atoav 4y agoIn the computer science world yes. But the word also exists outside of that context (and did so long before computers). Data is the plural of datum. A datum is a piece of information. Of course not any piece information is automatically a datum, as that noun implies a certain structured nature or a normative perspective on that piece of information. Certain information only became commonplace because it became a datum first. Before using family names as an identifier many people had no family names, they were identified by their first name and by the places they grew up in.
- 100069912261242 4y ago
- galaxyLogic 4y agoI would say that data is "encoded information". But then again is there any other kind?
- Tomis02 4y agoOP's question seems to be in the context of computers, not the semantics of the word "data" in the broader anthropological and socio-cultural context.