Redstone isn't power. The way it's used in Minecraft makes me think more of instrumentation (data) cable, transmitting a simple binary signal (on, off) or, with comparators (though no-one has made a computer in Minecraft with it yet - to my knowledge), a variable signal with a base ranging from binary to hexadecimal (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f). Also: Power is simple. Redstone is complicated (relatively speaking, anyway).
Actually, that gives me an idea for a machine that automatically places wool into a picture based on hexadecimal input....