Why are computers digital by nature?

Answer 1

digital computers are digital by nature because everything in the world not even some things in the world are man-made because they're made from things put together that were in the Earth. So someone put together thing from the Earth until they could make things digital.

I suppose that one could have built either a digital or an analog computer. For example, early radio and TV technology, as well as audio and visual recording technology were all analog.

However, many of the tasks given to early computers were digital in nature. The 26 letters in our alphabet are inherently digital. Mathematics, while perhaps being done with analog devices at the time, is actually an inherently digital process. And, any sense of precision in reproducing letters or mathematics requires a digital method. While I can imagine addition and subtraction done with analog devices, it is difficult to imagine solving more complex equations with analog devices. But, then again, I was born in the calculator era.

Another note about computers is that they really are based on executing sequential instructions. I.E. Not really analog instruction sets, but very specific & reproducible digital instructions. While in music it might be ok to be slightly off on the frequency of a single note, in a computer, getting the wrong instruction can be bad.

As far as binary, vs other "native" bases, essentially it is far easier to build computers based on a simple on/off switch.