SUPERMAX PRISONS ARE OFTEN DESCRIBED AS "HIGH TECH." * OBSERVERS seem to mean two things by this. First that these "prisons within prisons" are a technology in themselves: hard-edged and brightly lit, the fortress-like supermax dearly signals its specialized purpose of isolation and control. The second is that supermax prisons rely heavily on specialized, relatively new technologies: computerized systems produce new forms of intensive surveillance while special teams armed with electronic shields maintain control over prisoners.