Bit

A bit is the smallest classical record, a switch that reads 0 or 1 and sits in one of those positions whether or not anyone looks. John Tukey suggested the name, and Claude Shannon put it in print in 1948 while counting how much message a line can carry. An ordinary computer is a long row of such switches.

Keith’s first diagram had the lever hovering in the middle, which is a fine drawing of indecision and a bad drawing of a bit. The card in Malcolm’s pocket protector has the two positions and no third.