Final answer:
Analog communication signals vary continuously, whereas digital communication represents information using binary digits, making it clearer and more robust. Modern devices use digital signals manipulated by integrated circuits.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between analog and digital communication lies in the way they process and represent signals. In analog communication, signals vary continuously, reflecting the subtle changes in intensity or frequency of the physical phenomena. For example, the waveforms that represent the sound of a voice in a phone call, or the intensity of light captured in a photograph, are naturally analog.
On the other hand, digital communication represents information using a sequence of binary digits (bits), typically as ones and zeros. This binary representation is used in cell phone conversations, television voice, and video images, and computer data transmission. Because a digital signal only has two states, it is generally more robust against signal degradation and can be easily processed and compressed using computer algorithms. An example of digital processing is when an analog signal is converted to digital for electronic processing in recording devices or computers by requiring certain voltage cut-off values.
Modern electronic devices, like computers and smartphones, use integrated circuits which manipulate digital signals through a vast collection of transistors that work like on-off switches, corresponding to binary ones and zeros, to perform complex tasks efficiently.