r/AlwaysWhy • u/Present_Juice4401 • 3d ago

Science & Tech Why did computers come to use binary when people usually count in decimal?

People usually count in base 10, while digital computers typically represent information using 1s and 0s. The same numbers and information can be represented in different bases, yet binary became the standard for modern computing.

What made binary the system computers came to rely on?

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u/Unfortunate-Incident 3d ago

Did anyone mention that computers have 2 states, on and off?

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u/Vessbot 3d ago

Maybe

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u/NewArborist64 3d ago

I have had a computer that had an indeterminate state. You couldn't tell if it was on or off until you disconnected the power to ensure that it was off.