Numeric system without "zero", how to explain importance of zero to average person? As we all knew that Aryabhata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryabhata#Place_value_system_and_zero) invented zero ($0$) in our number system. I have few questions about it.


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*How did the numeric system work before the invention of "zero" ?

*What difference does it make now ? Does it mean we can't we have series like (1-9,11-19,21-29 and so on....)

*How is the invention of computers and digital devices related to invention of zero ?


I want to answer this question to an average person, how would I proceed ?


How did the numeric system work before the invention of "zero" ?

They either used $9\cdot3=27$ letters of the alphabet to signify the numbers $1-9,~10-90,$ and $100-900,$ —like Greeks and Jews, for instance,— or they employed specific signs for $1,5,10,$ $50,100,500$ and $1000,$ like other Greeks, and Romans.
