Tech WondersPlay

Inside the ComputerText Encoding

A Is 65

Every letter you type is secretly a number

Tap the letter A and your phone doesn't store an A. It stores a number. Who picked the number, and why that one?

You'll find out

  • The number hiding behind every letter
  • Why capitals and small letters are twins
  • How 128 codes grew to cover every script

Why it matters

Garbled accents, passwords that care about capitals, emoji in a name: they all trace back to one old table.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 150 · Zone 17

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