Assuming a modern SSD/Phone. If the hardware doesn’t physically change and I can’t open it and see 1’s and 0’s, then how does the device know the state before the electricity went off?
In: Technology
Imagine that you have an row of switches [like this one](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnYaNe0JTAf7vBYc0xr_v9639nr3eBvVStffCfdURBeYdbuj2H5YTWYuvcg2xsElw1gPM&usqp=CAU), that you can turn on or off, and to “write” information, you put them in different positions. Those switches need energy (your fingers) only when you want to change them, but if there’s no energy they get stuck in their state.
At the lower level, the methods of storing data you mentioned need energy to change their state (i.e. writing), but not to keep it, being a disc that is magnetized at different parts (as in a typical HDD), a chemical dye that is heated to change its shape (as in a CD-RW), or little “switches” (as in a flash drive).
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