We tend to think of computers as digital devices. They do not have to be so, but most of them are. The computers we use will all be digital in nature (Note that Digital is also a brand name of a certain type of computer. Most computer users refer to the company's initials DEC to avoid confusion. When we speak of digital technology in this course, we are not referring to the corporation, but the information storage technique.) The digital nature of computers is important because it gives them many of their characteristics. Remember that digital devices have limited precision, but extreme accuracy. Computers have the same properties. Digital devices manipulate numbers. Computers do this. Computers are able to make the numbers represent various other kinds of information.