WORDS LIKE "silicon "microcircuit. and integrated cuit are now in everyday use. What do they mean?
In an integrated circuit, a mumber of transistors, anything from three to 100,000, are made on a single piece of silcon between a Iwentieth and quarter of an inch square and less man a nanarcom tick ta suicoo chip"), together with other associated components, Even in their packages they are still quite small.
The first ones, made in the early 1960s for use in nuclear missiles, were is no object for the warmongers!
Microcircuits soon became cheaDer and more sophisticated. By 1970 the s moler devices were chean enounh for computers to be mainly built of them. They cost less, were smaller, and were cheaper lo assemble than circuits made of separate parts.
At the same time, more complex circuits containing a lew thousand transistors were appearing. breakthrough was coming.
It happened on several fronts. Perhaps the most visible is the pocket electronic calculator.
COMPLEX so complex that a single one could do the job (several thousand transistors even for the simplest calculator), and DraG producer shapi chois for peopie to afford them Since then, the technology has so advanced that calculators are like small computers.
Different and much simpler chips ToDd their way into ine home in televisions and radios. make much difference lo television itself. It performs a little vetter and breaks down less often The main impact i in making then, They use fewer parts and are a lot casier to adjust. Consequently they can be made with lewer workers, at less cost. since televisions were first developed An ordinary black and white sel now costs about the same in money TENS A EUC much better set. The value of money Is much Cheuper in real lerns The cost of a computer of given power is falling in moncy terras. This as due to continuing improvements in integrated circuits cram more and more onto a single silicon chip (100.000 transistors in some typest. As they learn more about making them, the price falls.
Recently another development bas "microprocessor". This is the 'central single silicon chip. In some simpler and parts are included too.
The central processor is the part of the computer that reads and obeys the DEE CEMETE They BUT TOL powerful computers, ranging from the equivalent of a 'scientific pocket calculator to the smallest minicomThe simplest ones are very cheap, though.
By themselves they do not achieve much. The more powerful ones car be WHAT'S LEFT Pubication. Payment in advance TYPISTWANTED amirate with last, accurate lyp TOO VICIN Wages Eo:
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02250571. used, with large numbers of other small minicomputers more cheaply. More building these devices, especially the smpic, sicap oocs, into machine previously too inexpensive to benefit Some microprocessors are cheap chouch to put in washing machines lathes and milling minchines. The recent noblicity comics from the fact that this has actually It is at the humble level that the impact of the microprocessor will probably be greatest. After all, the means to automate a production hine have been available for a long time.
Microprocessors will not make possible anything that minicomputers could not do five years ago, though they may make it cheaper. But at the cheaper end, the impact will be much Building a £3,000 minicomputer intos single machine was usually too Building in a microprocessor is often well worth the cost.
In the meantime, simpler types of become cheap that the humblest domestic or mansar maccine may contam area, impact of silicon chines many letter two sas Tol electronic вестов слелапися, By aie usca L This is then simpler, quicker, and cheaper to make and goes wrong less often. This means that fewer working hours are needed to make them and to Secondly, they may makeeconomic of tasks formerly requiring direct human supervision of effort. Again the effect is to reduce of working This is nor new, of course. Automation came before electronics, Boch processes have heen occurring on a argescale for a long time, The pace of development of modern technology craures that they will continue for a amount of human labour required to within the community as a whole, or they improve that standard of vint In other words, they could lead to a horter working day and a better lift or all. Karl Mars long ago pointer highest the forces of production in achieving socialism WaS young, lots of hooks were written for would soon reduce the need for actual human would have difficulty in ocupying their estra Even leaving aside Le exaggerations, the reality of today hears little this picture. The standard working weck is still 40 hours, Workers still come home worn our by back-breaking manual labour.
dency publis ПЛАИНОЛИ РОКОВИ ЛИМАРеЕ СІНИ ГСП FUS DO CUP LONDO a Holbom Tu OMEN G STUDE cation Mg cent departure of ПО 00012 WEA. All cissnes rur ler 24 weeks. OWER HAMLETS Secinat Uni We urgendly need books. tapes elc С8H 02.1н4 looking for Any Amenia. G331S for us by the revolution in electronics happening instead.
There are also 115 million people on the dole Newspaper Beadlines about auto. mation are more likely to thousands made redundant' thar 'working week cur. So what wen wrong t Britain today is a capitalis, societ the motor force of the economy profit. If astomation is introdaced anto a factory it costs the owner del Manor Park. With.
130mble 12 ng no alis Sponsored by records, Bring anythi 792225xB. Cosing date 20 Do 1110 JAMES BLANCO WHITE looks at the possibilities opened up money. In return, they want more profic Having introduced new methods, say the factory owners will not wish to cur the working week to match. That would give to the workers the benefir of the owners' expenditure, which would contravene ibe nature of a property owning sociely. Rather, they want to keep the amount of wor done by cacit emplovee the sane.
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hus the tactory owners make more profit, since the cos of lubour per item produced has fallen.
In real life, competition in the market place usually means that some of the benelis has to be passed on to the consumer (perhaps also a worker)
possible labour relations difficulties' may mean passing parto the benefit to the factory's workers.
The factory's owners always keep a large chunk for themselves, though That is the whole point of their this aka has consensence. As long as this state of continues, the individual such advances in technology. As bad as 40 hours hard labour may be. it is mach better than unemployment with lo of leisure. and no way to cnicy This problem is inherent in the economic anarchy capitalism. As long as considerations of profi; rule over all else, the benefits of improved productivity of buman Jahour will not be enjoyed in our Only in a plaused coonomy can Lechnology yield its fell fruir for the beefit of humanity in the future, unfortunately: What can workers do now if faced with acoration or with mike! The most likely answer is le demand a shorter working week si a:
This is not an easy demand to win Management will fight very bard against it, Not only does it give the benelics of the improvements to the workforce, it may also leave the factory uncompetitive in the marke place against others which did not concede this demand.
The alternative would be to demand that the rediced coss he passed on in reduced prices, and that the surplus labour he redeployed to make other products (lo mop up the extra spending power due to cho But the Is apt to lead to bidden elsewliere, and the redeployment is not often possibis - PADDINGTON Eat aD Sept 12 naan-lipme Mighty-Shades, Innonents, May buys LAYS CRONE OTTINGHAN PERA ROAMS TIN resar Dann, E Feliclly Jones. tel. Sheirield 33742 Soclalist Challenge 28 September 1978 page 13
the point 1 FIND John Ross's reply to Steve Skaith (14 September) rather strange, Surely it misses the point to quote, in reply Trotskyists Mate question mistakes?", example hlack nationalism in the USA — where Trotsky proved to be right! Rather, shouldn't the reply been *yc, Trotskyists, like anyone ele, can be wong. "can't wrongly believed tbat a mass warking class fightback was on the agenua Ln tion' on picket lines which the Kids suggest, still less the destruction of offending works, still less the verbal can send YOU copies of OUE publications when they are ready, or siber information abour che situatior