What a 1984 Macintosh Taught Me About Boundaries

Physical switches, mental toggles

The power switch on the back of the Macintosh SE was a small plastic rocker, about the size of a thumbnail, positioned on the left side of the rear panel. It clicked with a satisfying finality. On. Off. The machine did not sleep. It did not hibernate. It did not dim its screen and hover in some ambiguous low-power limbo waiting to be noticed. When you s…