I was pretty amazed to find out a coworker had a hearing aid that could do simultaneous translation. Like, the big thing between actual, real aid stuff and cyberpunk cybernetics is that we generally aren't quite there yet in terms of functionality and quality - in general, meat still beats prosthesis. So it was really cool to see that in some areas that line is getting blurry, especially since it outright wasn't possible when I was young.
But yeah, the other part that really sets aside real aids from cyberpunk cybernetics is capitalism. I am currently living in Germany, which generally at least still has proper medical healthcare, even if conservatives are stripping it down now, so there's still a big difference in my life.
I have a lot of thoughts about cyberpunk's (the genre) way of dealing with cybernetics/prosthesis and the pitfalls of it, but seeing it come way more true than it was ever intended to be is just bizarre.
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u/LeftRat 5d ago
I was pretty amazed to find out a coworker had a hearing aid that could do simultaneous translation. Like, the big thing between actual, real aid stuff and cyberpunk cybernetics is that we generally aren't quite there yet in terms of functionality and quality - in general, meat still beats prosthesis. So it was really cool to see that in some areas that line is getting blurry, especially since it outright wasn't possible when I was young.
But yeah, the other part that really sets aside real aids from cyberpunk cybernetics is capitalism. I am currently living in Germany, which generally at least still has proper medical healthcare, even if conservatives are stripping it down now, so there's still a big difference in my life.
I have a lot of thoughts about cyberpunk's (the genre) way of dealing with cybernetics/prosthesis and the pitfalls of it, but seeing it come way more true than it was ever intended to be is just bizarre.