On hardware: William Bowles (1990), 'The Macintosh Computer: Archetypal Capitalist Machine?' (first written in 1987) Retrofuturism 13, As somewhat of a precursor of Matt Fuller's deconstruction of Microsoft Word, this essay examines the peculiarities of the Macintosh computer from an overtly Marxist perspective Bowles is concerned to understand how technology is employed to 'wrest more and more surplus value from labor' (1990). He charts the historical parallel with the introduction of technologies in the industrial period and finds consistencies in approach. New machine tools were introduced that transfer skills from the human to the machine itself in a process of feedback. He explains this feedback thus: 'The end product of this process is the emergence of what I refer to as a "general tool", that is, a tool whose basic principles embody not only the specific skills of the craftsperson, but more importantly, the "skills" are embedded in the lathe in such a way as to "mask" not only the craft origins of the process in terms of skills needed by the operator to use the machine, but more importantly, the tasks are standardized via specific elements incorporated into the operating system of the lathe.' His argument is that these ideas have been heightened by the computer, and that it operates as the '"end product" of industrialism in the sense that it acts as a unifier of discrete, industrial processes in the same way that the lathe did for craft processes'. The Macintosh computer represents a further development of this rationalised process of development as a 'general tool' for 'generalised education' in that it is designed to be easy to operate. He explains this as an entirely logical development in keeping with the industrial period. The Macintosh computer in particular, and in contrast to a pc at that time (as well as in contrast to its current unix-based operating system of OSX) has some contradictory tendencies in this connection. He describes it as a form of 'state socialism'. The user interacts with the operating system via a command structure, using a toolbox, and so on, that parallels the kinds of standards developed in machine tools. To all intensive purposes, the operating system '"masks" the "real" operation of the computer by interposing itself between the user and the Central Processing Unit'. Despite appearances, the processes are decidedly complex and there is a vast amount of expertise invested in this operating system. The Macintosh presents itself as a 'black box', masking its inner workings and denying access to its depths (unlike its current form OSX). It may be easy to use but it is made impossible to use it at a greater level of operation. It is a closed system that somewhat 'mystifies' the processes involved and the choices open to the user. For Bowles, this encourages an 'unquestioning acceptance of the supremacy of technology'. This trick can be traced historically back to the beginnings of the industrial period not least, reflecting a trend to alienate the worker/user from the very processes they are involved in. The relations of production are organised in this way to maximise surplus value. The articulation of this is far more complex when the processes are more difficult to perceive, reflecting the relationship between consumer and producer underpinned by the knowledge economy. 'The specialization necessary for modern science-based production methods is predicated on the existence of a stratum of the work force who possess unique knowledge of the processes involved. This technocratic "caste" is indispensable to modern productive forces...'. Labour is organised in such a way that technology replaces labour as well as is bound to it. Each aspect is assimilated by society in such a way that it is normalised, and becomes part of the general knowledge of that society. What Macintosh tried to do was to make a 'universal' graphic user interface, to set a standardised way of operating a computer that enabled the relatively 'unskilled' user to gain access to computers 'without resort to educating everyone to the level of the university' (the irony is that much educative work using computers has been done on macs, especially in art and design subjects). The importance of this is that it is only through this approach that a ruling class can sustain itself: 'If the technical/professional elite are to maintain the system, they must make it as simple as possible to operate' (Linux clearly lies outside these parameters as is the operating system of choice for the Free Software and Open source communities accordingly). For Bowles, this is entirely expected: 'What we are seeing is then is an exact duplication of the first industrial revolution where craft skills were stolen and locked into the industrial machine, then perfected to the point whereby general principles could be extracted and applied to ever more sophisticated machines, each in turn, requiring less and less skill (and labor) to operate!' The Macintosh computer combines contradictory impulses and conditions. It is both a means of ensuring the dominant relations of production and offers the potential to make knowledge accessible (as the 'antithesis of capitalism' in encouraging highly socialised forms of labour). Much has happened since this essay was written.