Simple intuition
A classical bit has one actual value at a time. A qubit is different: before measurement, it is described by a state that tells you how future measurements can turn out.
Precise explanation
The symbols alpha and beta are complex amplitudes. Their squared magnitudes give measurement probabilities in the computational basis. The amplitudes also contain phase information, which is why a qubit is richer than a classical random bit.
Example or analogy
Analogy: a recipe is not the meal. The quantum state is like the recipe for what outcomes can appear and how they interfere, while the measured 0 or 1 is the meal you finally serve.
Common misconception
A qubit is not literally a bit that is secretly both 0 and 1 in an everyday sense. The state encodes amplitudes for possible outcomes; it is not just a statement of ignorance.
Why this matters
Every gate, histogram bar, and Bloch sphere arrow in the simulator is a different view of the same state. If you understand the state, the rest of the interface becomes much easier to read.